Women are heavily underrepresented in private equity and venture capital. In emerging markets, only 11 percent of senior investment professionals are women and only 7 percent of private equity and venture capital is invested in women-led businesses. This gender gap persists despite the overwhelming evidence that investing in gender-diverse teams leads to stronger business outcomes.
IFC believes that closing the gender gap in private equity and venture capital is key to promoting sustainable and inclusive growth. When women-led companies are undervalued, everyone loses - investors leave great opportunities on the table, innovative entrepreneurs don’t get the capital they need to scale, and society at large misses out on the impact of their innovations.
IFC works with its partner funds, accelerators, and investee companies to implement targeted interventions aimed at increasing gender equality and supporting gender-lens investing across sectors and markets.
