Across emerging Europe, almost 2.2 million women entrepreneurs form a vibrant community, yet they face profound disparities when it comes to securing venture funding.
According to recent figures shared during a panel discussion moderated by Andrew Wrobel, Chief Reinvention Officer at Reinvantage, women-founded businesses receive a meagre one per cent of venture capital. Mixed-gender teams fare slightly better at five per cent, while all-male teams dominate with 94 per cent of the total funding pie.
Emilia Mamajowa is a founding partner at Espira Investments, a private equity fund, which has a gender-smart investment strategy. Before founding Espira, she says that the funds she worked for made “very few” investments in women-led or gender-diverse firms.
“I saw a gap on the market,” she adds. “I carried out a great deal of market research which reinforced international findings: companies with gender diversity in leadership positions prove significantly more resilient, particularly during financial downturns.”
Ewa Chronowska, general partner at NextRoad Ventures and CEO at Vestbee, echoes this sentiment, emphasising perseverance and mission-driven entrepreneurship.
“I just went for it,” she says, underscoring the need for laser-focused determination and the willingness to manage significant personal sacrifices, especially when balancing family and career demands.
Chronowska stresses the importance of changing societal attitudes early: “We need to educate the market, but without turning it into a gender fight—this harms the perception of women who have already achieved success.”
Viktorija Trimbel, managing director of the sovereign VC fund Co-Invest Capital, provides a compelling personal narrative of navigating professional roles in traditionally male-dominated financial sectors while balancing family life.
Trimbel highlights the critical role of support networks, suggesting that success for women in leadership roles also requires systemic shifts within company cultures.
"We need mixed environments,” she says, “mixed funds. We need to look at entrepreneurs as innovators, first of all, rather than as simply men or women. Only when speaking together can find best solutions that will address problems in a way which is beneficial to everyone.”