By analyzing two data samples of 100 ventures comprising of ‘emerging’ and ‘established’ ventures, the research team found correlations that help understand the venture’s ability to be successful. Gender balance was a key factor as founding teams of successful ventures were more likely to include male and female founders. It is noteworthy that 46% of these ventures included a female founder in their team. Exclusively female teams run 9% of the startups. Among the countries with 20 or more ventures participating in the survey, Uganda and Kenya have the highest female participation. For Uganda, 57% of the ventures include a female founder where for Kenya the number is only slightly lower at 55%. South Africa has the lowest female participation rate at 33%. Nevertheless, these percentages of female founders far outpace averages recorded in more established startup hubs like New York or San Francisco. Similar findings were discovered in previous report called “Women at the Wheel” conducted by Dow Jones, claiming that venture-backed companies that include females as senior executives are more likely to succeed than companies where only males are in charge.
