Last week, Sifted published an opinion piece from four of Sweden’s top founders, arguing the country’s $46m AI strategy would not be enough to retain homegrown talent, comparing it to a “typical Series A. For one startup.”
In some corners, the piece was very well received. I shared it on LinkedIn — after all, I cover the Nordics for Sifted — suggesting the founders had raised a strong point about European governments not taking the AI revolution seriously enough.
Before publishing, I was conscious the top photo of four men could provoke roars of disapproval from some in the ecosystem. One person commented: “When the public face of Sweden’s AI debate is four white male founders, we’re unintentionally reinforcing the same structural imbalance we claim to want to solve.”
Instead of discussing the substance of the piece, around a quarter of those commenting focused almost entirely on the gender and ethnicity of the authors.
I know female founders have a difficult time: only 12% of venture capital in Europe goes to startups with female founders; and that female VCs, on average, face greater barriers than their male counterparts.
I know this because I’ve been covering tech for more than a decade. I know this because, over the past 10 years, I’ve organised panels and events, commissioned opinion pieces and reports, and spoken to countless women and men about the issue. I’m sorry, but it exhausts me.
Late last year, I spoke to a female investor who had invested significant time in a due diligence process for a female-founded startup because she genuinely wanted it to work. In the end, she had to turn it down because the numbers simply didn’t add up. Many of us care deeply about this issue, but opportunities to improve the situation can seem rare.
And there are so many great women out there. In Sifted’s 100 Women in Tech in Europe list, there are outstanding examples of women building companies that will most likely become unicorns. We have people like Emma Burrows, cofounder of Portia, Sara Landfors, cofounder of Normain, Zelda Mariet, cofounder of Bioptimus, Zuzanna Stamirowska, founder of Pathway and many more.
I don’t expect them to have as much time to write opinion pieces as those 10 years into a founder journey, but I would still love for any of them — or any other women in the ecosystem — to reach out to me with a simple message, similar to the one Voi CEO Fredrik Hjelm sent me on WhatsApp on Sunday night, which read: “Hi! Osika, Schildt, Hellermark and I have written an op-ed about the Swedish AI strategy. Would that be of interest to Sifted?”
Should my response have been: “Couldn’t you find a better representation of the whole ecosystem?”
I don’t believe that is my responsibility as Europe editor. My responsibility is to make sure that Sifted covers the stories people want to read and to do our best to have as much female representation where it is possible. It is also to give anyone with a strong idea for an opinion piece the opportunity to pitch it.
I’m an opinionated person who likes to write. I’m certain there are plenty of female builders who fit that description too.
So instead of directing frustration at another woman in the ecosystem, who is simply doing her job, feel free to drop my colleagues or me a line about a topic you’d like to write about. We can’t wait.
