SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
Feb. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon
Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world's most innovative
companies and their investors, released its Women in
Technology Leadership 2018 report today. The report found
that 67 percent of startups surveyed have no women on their boards
and 51 percent have no women in executive positions. The number of
startups that say they have programs in place to increase the
number of women in leadership, however, in one year jumped from 28
percent to 43 percent.
Views were collected as part of SVB's ninth annual Startup
Outlook 2018 report, which surveyed 1,045 startup
executives primarily in the US, UK and China. Globally, 25 percent of startups had a
female founder or co-founder.
In addition to measuring the number of women in leadership,
SVB's Women in Technology Leadership report compares
startups' views of the innovation economy based on the gender of
their founders. Survey findings include:
- There has been no progress for women in technology leadership
in the US in the past three years
- Women's roles differ based on the gender of startups'
founders
- Fundraising success rate is not influenced by founder gender,
but companies with at least one female founder report the
fundraising environment is more challenging
- Startups with a female founder expect to rely more heavily on
angel and individual investors and less on venture capitalists than
startups with no female founders
SVB asked startups to describe the programs they have
implemented to increase the number of women in leadership. They say
they are setting and tracking diversity goals, actively coaching
employees for leadership and encouraging industry involvement in
female-focused organizations. Startups also report they are
changing the way job descriptions are written and how they are
recruiting and conducting interviews to mitigate potential
unconscious bias.
"Our clients are always looking at what's next, how to improve
on the status quo, and once they decide to do something they move
quickly," said Greg Becker, CEO of
Silicon Valley Bank. "With that mindset, a willingness to
think differently and being open to candid conversation, we believe
that the innovation sector has the opportunity to change. There is
much work to be done, and it starts with each business leader
making inclusion, equal representation and diversity an
imperative."
The full report is available 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 35 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.
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FINANCIAL GROUP, SILICON VALLEY BANK, MAKE NEXT HAPPEN NOW and the
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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