Women are still underrepresented in the tech ecosystem in France and across Europe. According to the latest Pitchbook report, funding rounds involving female founders accounted for only 20% of all VC deals in Europe in 2024. Women also remain underrepresented within investment funds. Among European VC management firms with over €50M under management, only 15% of General Partners are women.
Initiatives to improve their representation across the ecosystem have been launched. In 2019, Sista introduced the Sista Charter for investment funds. The goal is to ensure that by 2025, 25% of funded startups in the digital sector are founded or co-founded by women, increasing to 30% by 2030 and 50% by 2050. For General Partners, the target is set at a minimum of 30% female partners and gender parity within investment teams. Progress is still slow. Alter Equity recently announced that its third fund will require a minimum of 30% female representation in the executive committees of the companies it finances.
In the AI sector, female founders are still rare. Notably, in France's Next40 index of fast-growing companies, only one scaleup is led by a woman: Eléonore Crespo, CEO of Pigment. Maddyness has identified five female AI entrepreneurs to watch.
Salma Bakouk, Cofounder and CEO of Sifflet
In 2021, Salma Bakouk left her role as Executive Director at Goldman Sachs in Asia to found Sifflet. Based in Paris, London, and New York, Sifflet develops a solution that helps companies detect issues in their data management, such as disconnected servers or outdated databases. In 2023, Sifflet raised €12M in a Series A round led by EQT Ventures, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital.
Roxane Fischer, Cofounder and CEO of Anyshift.io
A graduate of Polytechnique, Roxane Fischer co-founded Anyshift with Stéphane Jourdan in 2023. Anyshift has developed an AI assistant called "Annie" to help companies better manage their cloud infrastructures. Anyshift's method relies on digital twins — virtual representations of an organisation's infrastructure, including dependencies and configurations — enabling teams to test changes, migrations, and more.
Sarah-Diane Eck, Founder of Subtela
Sarah-Diane Eck is a repeat founder. In 2019, she co-founded Surprise, an automated marketing and customer data management solution that was sold to the Skeepers group in February 2021. She founded Subtela in May 2024. Additionally, Eck is a board member at France Digitale and an investor in Dift, an impact-driven startup founded by Frédéric Mazzella, and Climeet, a carbon footprint calculation solution for the events sector.
Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi, Cofounders of Ankar.ai
Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi co-founded Ankar.ai in January 2024. The startup helps companies better leverage their intellectual property. Ankar is one of the first investments made by Booom, a fund launched by German entrepreneur Felix Plapperer. Tamar Gomez holds a PhD in Economics from Imperial College London and previously worked as a product manager at Helsing, an AI and defence startup. Wiem Gharbi is a graduate of Telecom Paris and spent six years at Palantir, working in strategy and product roles, before founding Ankar.ai.
