Women Founders Continue to Face Bias Despite Being The Biggest Disruptors in FoodTech and Plant-Based Industries

VWS releases second annual Women Founder Report, showing a rise of discrimination and bias against women founders in emerging animal-cruelty-free industries.

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Vegan Women Summit

Jan 11, 2022, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite fast-paced growth in investments in plant-based and food technologies and a record $3 billion USD of investment in 2020 alone, over half of women founders in these industries actively faced fundraising bias in 2021, reports Vegan Women Summit's second annual Women Founder Report: The State of Women in the Future of Food and Animal Alternatives. The trend continues from 2020, when women founders raised less than 3% of all FoodTech investments.

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"As we reach a critical phase of the climate crisis, we are alarmed by the data collected in our annual VWS Women Founder Survey. Women founders continue to face bias, discrimination, and challenges in the FoodTech and animal alternatives industries, despite massive investment and increased mainstream attention. Put simply, we have no chance to save the planet if women are not empowered and supported to create the solutions we need to reform our food system," says Jennifer Stojkovic, Founder and CEO of Vegan Women Summit.

  • 97% of women founders are working towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • Despite these metrics, 3 in 5 women founders reported facing bias in the fundraising process, a 23% increase from 2020.
  • 85% reported facing gender bias during fundraising, a 13% increase from 2020.
  • Women founders of color are 1.5x more likely to experience fundraising bias.
  • 90% shared that their male co-founder does not experience the same barriers as they do.
  • 68% of founders stated their plan to fundraise within the next year, with 51% aiming for at least $1 million USD in funding.

To read the full report, visit www.veganwomensummit.com/report. Data was gathered in Fall 2021 from 145 women FoodTech founders across six continents.

For more information about Vegan Women Summit, visit www.veganwomensummit.com.

About Vegan Women Summit

Vegan Women Summit® (VWS) is a global events and media organization created to empower women to build a kinder, more sustainable world. VWS hosts events with the goal to foster a community of strong, ambitious rising leaders working to bring compassion to their careers. VWS is supported by leading CEOs, founders, investors, athletes, & nonprofit leaders from around the world.

CONTACT:
Candice Smith
[email protected]

SOURCE Vegan Women Summit

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