The newly released Female Innovation Index 2026, Europe’s largest report examining the innovation and funding pipeline driven by female entrepreneurs, shows that female founders across the region are scaling more rapidly, raising larger rounds and increasingly adopting AI.
Produced in partnership with more than 35 private equity and venture associations and leading European venture ecosystem players across 20 countries, the latest edition delivers over 150 insights into the female innovation funnel in Europe.
According to the report, 1,307 European female-founded startups raised €7.5 billion across 1,376 deals in 2025, marking a three-year high and a 19 per cent year-on-year increase. This growth broadly tracks the overall European VC market, which rose 18 per cent over the same period.
AI becomes a central growth driver
The report reveals that AI continues to play an increasingly important role in female-led innovation. In 2025, companies leveraging AI captured 22 per cent of all venture capital and 25 per cent of all rounds raised by female-founded startups. Among funded female-founded AI companies, 47 per cent operated at the application layer, with security (18 per cent), health (16 per cent), robotics (11 per cent) and fintech (10 per cent) attracting the most investment.
Survey data from the Female Innovation Index 2026 indicates that AI is widely viewed as a key business enabler: 86 per cent of female founders report using the technology, and 90 per cent say it has made building their businesses easier over the past year.
Beyond AI, deeptech remains a major focus area, accounting for 34 per cent of total venture capital raised by female-founded startups in 2025, up one percentage point year on year. Within deeptech, drug discovery attracted the largest share at 20 per cent.
Agata Nowicka, founder of Female Foundry and author of the Female Innovation Index, said:
This has been a remarkable year for female entrepreneurs in Europe. Female founders across all industries are no longer simply experimenting with AI — they are embedding it at the core of their value creation. With an unprecedented number of female-founded companies reaching unicorn status and a surge in M&A activity, we are witnessing a generational shift in how women build, innovate, and scale across Europe.
Health leads sector performance
Health further strengthened its position as the leading sector for both company creation and funding among female-founded startups in Europe in 2025, capturing 37 per cent of total capital raised (€3.6 billion), up 75 per cent year on year. Fintech followed with 12 per cent (€0.9 billion), down 10 per cent, while energy accounted for 7 per cent (€506 million), declining 15 per cent from the previous year.
Larger rounds and stronger progression
Funding rounds for female-founded startups continued to grow in size, particularly at later stages. Average round size increased 12 per cent year on year, with Series B and Series C showing the strongest growth at 26 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. More Seed-stage female-founded companies progressed to Series A than the broader European startup population, and deal activity increased across all stages, especially at Seed, Series A and Series B. Female-founded companies also outperformed the European average at Series A in funding success.
Record unicorn creation and regional leaders
In 2025, female-founded companies in Europe achieved a record level of unicorn creation. Five companies reached unicorn status, bringing the regional total to 29, the highest recorded to date. A further 21 companies are approaching unicorn status, representing a 50 per cent increase and another record high.
Geographically, the UK, Finland and France lead in total funding for female-founded companies, while Finland, Czechia, Luxembourg and Spain record the highest national shares of venture capital allocated to female-founded startups.
For more information, the full report is available here.
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