SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
March 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world's
most innovative companies and their investors, released its
Women in Technology Leadership report today which found 68
percent of startups surveyed have no women on their board of
directors and 53 percent have no women in the C-suite. Despite
growing awareness of the lack of women in senior roles, only 28
percent of startups said they have a program in place aimed at
increasing the number of women in leadership positions.
SVB's Women in Technology Leadership report also examines
startups' views of the technology sector based on the gender of the
founders. Views were collected as part of SVB's eighth annual
Startup Outlook report, which surveyed nearly 950 startup
executives primarily in the U.S., U.K. and China.
"We expected to see more women in leadership positions this
year, and instead our survey shows how little progress is being
made," said Claire Lee, Managing Director and Head of SVB's Early
Stage Practice. "We cannot be deceived by our seemingly large
network of talented and successful female founders, investors,
board members and innovators. The data show us these women remain a
lonely minority in the technology world."
Of startups surveyed, 23 percent had a female founder or
co-founder. The largest concentrations of female-founded startups
were in the healthcare (21 percent) and consumer internet/digital
media (20 percent) sectors.
The differences between male and female founded companies are
apparent in titles, fundraising, and geography:
- A woman in the C-suite in a male-founded company is more likely
to be the head of HR (25%), CFO (22%) or CMO (18%). In comparison,
a woman in the C-suite in a female-founded company is more likely
to be CEO (47%), COO (26%) or CTO (9%).
- Fundraising is challenging for all startups, however, 27
percent of female-founded companies said the current fundraising
environment is "extremely challenging" versus 15 percent of
male-founded startups.
- Comparing results among the U.S., U.K. and China, the survey found notably more women in
tech leadership in startups in China: 63 percent of startups in China had at least one women in an executive
position.
The survey also highlights that whether the startup had a female
or male founder made little difference in the outlook assessing
business conditions, hiring, exit strategies and funding
sources.
Business Conditions in 2017:
- 85 percent of female- and 88 percent of male-founded companies
expect business conditions to get better or remain as strong as
they were in 2016.
Source of Funding:
- Venture capital was the most likely option of the next source
of funding regardless of founder's gender.
- After venture capital, more female-founded companies expected
their next source of funding to come from private equity and
corporate investors. Male-founded companies expected the next
source after VC to come from individuals and, by a slight margin,
angel investors.
Hiring:
- Finding workers with the skills needed to grow their business
remains a challenge for all startups. That said, female- (71
percent) and male-founded companies (79 percent) expect to hire in
2017.
Exits:
- There was almost no difference in the realistic long-term goal
for exits. More than half of both male- (53 percent) and
female-founded companies (51 percent) said they expected their
startup to be acquired, and far fewer expect to go public in an
IPO.
For a more comprehensive analysis, please see the Women in
Technology Leadership report. Startup Outlook 2017
survey results by country can be viewed at:
www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report/.
Follow the conversation on Twitter at @SVB_Financial and @SVB_UK
with #StartupOutlook.
About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped
innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward,
fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise
through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With
commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps
address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.
©2017 SVB Financial Group. All rights reserved. SVB, SVB
FINANCIAL GROUP, SILICON VALLEY BANK, MAKE NEXT HAPPEN NOW and the
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license. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC and the
Federal Reserve System. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary of SVB Financial
Group (Nasdaq: SIVB).
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SOURCE Silicon Valley Bank