REPORT: VC funding for female founders in Nordics and Baltics plummets amid AI startup domination

Only a very small percentage of VC investment into startups in the Nordics and Baltics went to female founders in 2025, suggesting a potential slowdown in support for women-led startups in the region.

On average, just 8% of total invested capital went to teams with one or more female founders. That’s down from 21% in 2024 – and significantly below the 16% global average for that year.

Meanwhile, around 18% of funding rounds featured startups with at least one female founder, down slightly from 23% the year previous, according to a new report from ByFounders.

The findings suggest that not only are women poorly represented in dealflow, they’re even less likely to attract larger investments.

Male teams dominate larger rounds

The top 10 largest funding rounds of 2025 in the Nordics and Baltics were raised by startups with all-male founding teams, according to Dealroom data.

These include Swedish AI "vibe-coding" startup Lovable which raised over $500m across two rounds, Finnish satellite startup ICEYE, which secured €200m at a €2.4bn valuation, and Stockholm-based body scanning company Neko Health, which raised a $260m Series B.

Across the board, male-founded teams received the lion's share of VC investment in the region in 2025 – as high as 96% in Q3, according to the Byfounders report.

A systemic problem

The lack of female founders in tech – and their difficulty in raising capital – is a persistent problem in Europe and globally. Judging from the data it's particularly acute in the Nordics and Baltics.

While the report provided no explanation for the drop in gender diversity in the region's ecosystem, an examination of the data reveals a pattern: AI startups, which had a breakout moment last year, are overwhelmingly founded by men. The significant raises by startups such as Lovable, Tandem Health, and Legora may have skewed the numbers the Byfounders report somewhat.

Nevertheless, the persistent gender imbalance in tech at large remains – a fact investors in the region and beyond would be wise to note.

While men overwhelmingly raise the most capital, businesses founded by women have consistently been shown to overperform, both in revenue terms and return on investment within a portfolio.