Are you a female founder of an urban mobility startup? Did you know that of the €3.2 billion of venture capital (VC) invested in the Nordic countries 6% went to mixed gender founded teams, and only 1% to founding teams made up entirely of women? And these numbers are not new, they have been this low for years. Through years of experience, the founders of Position99 know that female founders are out there, they want to raise capital, and have an enormous potential to help solve our societal challenges. 

Aiming to be the reference in the market for supporting and funding gender-balanced startups, EIT Urban Mobility has recently partnered up with Position99, to identify 99 female founders in urban mobility in the Nordics and help them get access to venture capital through increased visibility and match making. 

Over the next months, EIT Urban Mobility and Position99 will give several workshops in Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia to bring more awareness about the topic and to introduce the list of 99 female founders. Follow our journey via https://www.linkedin.com/company/eit-urban-mobility  Become part of the list and apply via https://www.position99.com/en 

“Research show that female founders are perceived differently, and that the VC-world is full of outdated cultures and norms. It is also a question of communication and investors seldom have the time or will to change their own perspectives. This is unfortunate since it is our firm belief that without a gender diverse innovation scene, we will not be able to solve the climate crisis”. Something which got confirmed by the theme of the United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day 2022: “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. 

Anna Branten, initiator of Position 99

During the last two years, EIT Urban Mobility has made gender-balance a key objective when selecting startups to invest in. Since this active focus, the number of female-led ventures in the EIT Urban Mobility portfolio has grown from 16% to 27%. At the same time, the share of gender-balanced startup investments has improved from 28% to 52%. 

“With this partnership we are taking the next step to give female founded startups better chances to receive funding. More than half of our investments last year were in gender-balanced startups. Although good, this is not enough, and initiatives like this will lead the way to changing the investment scene by improving visibility for female founders and the deal flow for investors“. 

Fredrik Hanell, Business Creation Director at EIT Urban Mobility