Last week saw the launch of Project Europe, a new scheme led by podcaster-turned-VC Harry Stebbings and backed by more than 150 European tech founders to fund the next generation of young entrepreneurs. It has big ambitions, but soon after it was announced, the conversation exploded across LinkedIn and within the Unlock VC WhatsApp community, and a few big questions emerged.
Why will it only back entrepreneurs under 25s? Where is the racial diversity? Where are all the women?
Project Europe is being backed by high-net-worth founders and operators, as well as VC funds. Only five of the initial 150 individual LPs are women, the VC funds backing them — 20VC, Adjacent, Point Nine — are all led by men and only 2 of the 10 partners are women. That seems shocking, but it’s the reality across most of VC and tech — so Project Europe’s diversity blindspots are sadly not that surprising.
We know that projects that don’t start with diverse leadership teams won't build or invest in diverse teams. If Project Europe is backed and deployed mostly by men, where do you think that money is going to go? And where will the returns from the project flow? Plus, what does it say to the next generation of female founders about their opportunities here?
To be clear, I don’t think they’ve done it on purpose. The excitement behind Project Europe is justified. It’s incredible what they have built in a short space of time and I love the sentiment behind it. Like many things to do with diversity, maybe it was overlooked as fast-moving initiatives like this rely on existing networks.
The problem? Women and, often, non-white men are rarely included in initiatives like this. Tech and VC is a boys’ club, and one that’s very hard to get into. It’s disheartening to see diverse investors and founders, yet again, left out of the conversation and the potential upside. I want Project Europe to succeed. I want Europe to succeed. But without capital in the hands of a diverse set of investors, access to funding will remain unequal, and diverse founders will continue to miss out — ultimately representing a huge lost opportunity for Europe.
I think it’s important here to spotlight the fantastic women that are involved: Kitty Mayo will be leading as CEO — she also has a vote on the investment committee. There are also female LPs including Cristina Vila Vives, Charmaine Chow and Eléonore Crespo. But there’s still more to be done.
To me, there are three ways we can turn this reaction into meaningful change.
Encourage more diverse founders to back and mentor Project Europe
One of the first initiatives I saw being shared in our community was a crowdsourced list of ‘Great Women of European Tech’ to be considered as LPs (unsurprisingly, a very long list). The argument here is that, while there was an initial oversight, the programme deserves strong female mentors and investors to encourage the next generation of founders. My worry, however, is even if more female LPs are included, if they don’t have a critical mass of diverse decision makers and mentors, it won’t change the gender allocation.
Kitty Mayo told me: “The team is actively reaching out to more female founders who want to invest — we now have 16 female LPs committed and many more who are in the process. We hope to have 20 more women onboard as LPs by tomorrow and will always be open to more.”
Direct capital to existing initiatives run by diverse teams
Despite the press and wider industry attention Project Europe is receiving due to the huge platforms of the people in charge, this is not the only initiative set up to support early-stage founders in Europe. There are many women-led funds and initiatives already set up to support and fund early-stage businesses — and who are focused on building a diverse LP base. Some examples include Sigma Squared, which has a similar model to Project Europe, female angel investor syndicate Evagelistas and female founder accelerator Sie Ventures .
We know more diverse teams drive more successful companies, and more diverse funds drive better returns. Instead of encouraging LPs to join Project Europe, should we instead direct LPs into some of these organisations?
Build something new, that’s diverse and equal from the ground up
It’s incredibly hard to change the culture of a non-diverse organisation led by non-diverse leaders. Many have tried and failed, and that's why we are seeing so many women in VC starting their own funds and initiatives.
We all know the stats: only 16% of GPs in Europe are women, who manage only 9% of total assets under management (AUM). Only 2% of venture capital funding goes to all-women teams. When we look at intersectional founders, it’s even worse.
What might an initiative focused on funding the future of Europe look like if it had an equal mix of female and male investors, with a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and networks?
The venture capital industry is going through a fundamental reset. We’ve got the opportunity to do things differently to benefit Europe as a whole, not just the same sub-section. Capital is power. If we don’t also change the systems that distribute that power, then the same cycles will continue.
I want to know what do you think? The current vote on my LinkedIn poll is:
- Encourage for women in join Project Europe: 27%
- Support existing solutions: 14%
- Build something new: 59%
