India’s start-up ecosystem continues to be marked by a pronounced gender gap, even as the country ranks as the world’s third-largest start-up hub. Women founders remain significantly under-represented, both in access to capital and in leadership positions across high-growth ventures. This imbalance is reflected among the top-100 start-up outperformers ranked by Outlook Business. Across these companies, there are 243 founders in total, but only 17 are women, underscoring the persistence and depth of the gender disparity within India’s start-up ecosystem. According to industry estimates, less than 5% of venture-capital funding in India is directed towards start-ups with at least one woman founder, pointing to structural barriers in fundraising.
A Country Sans Women Founders: The Stark Gender Gap in India’s Start-Up Ecosystem
With just 17 women founders in India’s rapidly growing start-up ecosystem, the gender gap remains stark, highlighting systemic challenges and the urgent need to support and empower female entrepreneurs across industries, from tech and finance to consumer goods and health care
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Gender disparity is visible in numbers
Women founders are visible in consumer-facing D2C start-ups, but very few or none at all in other segments
Start-ups led by women founders do are not attracting enough capital
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
There are women who lead by example and inspire others to challenge societal conventions and carve out their own space. Outlook Business celebrates such women founders who have defied the odds to feature in its outperformers' list of the top-100 start-ups. Spanning sectors such as direct to consumer, enterprise tech, fintech, climate tech and health tech, these leaders stand out not just for building successful companies, but for shaping the future of Indian entrepreneurship.
Meet the women founders who have made the difference
Research and data partner: Ayvole