The Female Innovation Index is Europe’s largest report on the funnel of innovation and funding driven by female entrepreneurs, in partnership with over thirty-five private equity and venture associations, and leading European venture ecosystem players across twenty European countries. The 2026 edition unpacks over 150 insights to reveal a granular and vivid picture of the funnel of female innovation in Europe.

Amid accelerating technological progress, female founders across Europe are scaling faster, raising bigger rounds, and reaching higher levels of venture capital funding. 1,307 European female-founded startups raised €7.5B through 1,376 deals in 2025. This marks the highest amount in three years and a 19% year-on-year increase in total investment from the €6.25B raised last year. The increase is in line with the broader 18% increase in venture capital funding deployed year-on-year across European companies of all genders, slightly outperforming it by a marginal 1%.