After two consecutive years of decline, venture funding for Indian startups (co-)founded by women rebounded in 2024, but the recovery failed to keep pace with the broader surge in startup investments in the country.
Collectively, female (co-)founded startups bagged $1.43 billion in equity and debt funding last year, marking a 30% increase over 2023’s haul of $1.1 billion, finds DealStreetAsia’s fourth annual report on the gender funding gap in India, released ahead of International Women’s Day.
There were 208 deals recorded last year by startups (co-)founded by women, up around 19% from 175 in 2023.
However, the growth in funding for female-led startups failed to outpace the rise in overall Indian startup funding. Indian startups had amassed $16.3 billion from 1,267 deals in 2024, up 38% by value and 35% by volume year-on-year.
Consequently, the share of female (co-)founded startups in overall fundraising fell to 8.8% last year, from 9.25% in 2023, according to the Female Founders in India 2024 report. Women co-founded startups’ share of total funding was even higher at 13% in 2022 and 14.56% in 2021.
Startups founded solely by women raised $118.6 million, or a mere 0.7% of total funding bagged by private companies in 2024. In comparison, such companies had raised $50.1 million, accounting for 0.4% of the total funding in 2023.
Last year, all-male founding teams secured nearly 91.2% of all equity and debt funding for startups in India. Additionally, they closed larger rounds than startups with a female (co-)founder.
“There have been moments where I’ve felt underestimated or had to work harder to prove my credibility. There’s this underlying assumption that men understand business and finance better, while women are expected to have a more emotional or instinctive approach to decision-making. The best way to counter these biases is by being prepared, knowing your numbers inside out, and showing up with confidence,” said Romita Mazumdar, Founder & CEO of the skincare brand Foxtale in an interview for the report.
Funding for India’s female-founded startups over the years
Ecom Express—incorporated in 2012 by Manju Dhawan, K. Satyanarayana, Late T. A. Krishnan and Late. Sanjeev Saxena—led the deal tally with $172 million funding from existing investors via a rights issue. This was followed by Finova Capital, co-founded by Mohit Sahney and Sunita Sahney, with $135 million funding from Avataar Venture Partners, Sofina, Madison India Capital, and existing investor Norwest Venture Partners.
For comparison, the top two deals in India in 2024 overall were worth $665 million and $605 million, sealed by Zepto and Swiggy, respectively.
E-commerce once again topped the list as the most funded vertical for female-founded startups with total proceeds worth $439.2 million from 57 deals in 2024. Its share in total funding also increased to 30.6% in the year from 28% in 2023.
Fintech Lending occupied the second spot with a total haul of $343.5 million from eight deals. SaaS moved up to the third place with total proceeds worth $162.2 million from nine deals.
Share of funding for India’s female-led startups by sector
Among cities, Gurugram saw the maximum funding raised by female founders at $416 million last year. Mumbai was a distant second with funding worth $236 million.
The share of growth-stage deals (including pre-IPO and private equity rounds) in the total funding raised by female co-founded startups increased to 49% in 2024 from 40.8% in 2023. Their volume was also up at 20 last year from 16 in the previous year.
Some women founders that we spoke to for this report were of the view that gender stereotypes and perceptions about women as leaders do influence the questions and queries during an investment presentation and interactions.
“Even in casual conversations, there is a much higher chance that a woman founder will be asked about family responsibilities, and work-life balance,” said Sucharita Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CEO, Kaleidofin, a financial services startup.
Founders were also confident that the startup ecosystem in the country is moving in the right direction. A lot of funding has gone to female founders and they have shown their capabilities in running businesses successfully along with all other responsibilities, and that many investors are encouraging female founders by giving them funding without taking any equity.
“Five years ago, the conversation was about breaking barriers. Today, women founders are scaling businesses, securing capital, and leading from the front. The shift is real—investors are backing strong businesses, and founders are proving that success is driven by vision and execution. Biases haven’t disappeared overnight, but change doesn’t come from waiting for permission. It comes from showing up, delivering results, and redefining what’s possible—and women entrepreneurs are doing just that,” said Shauravi Malik & Meghana Narayan, Co-founders, Wholsum Foods.
Female Founders in India 2024 report provides insights on:
- Funds raised by India’s female-led startups in 2024
- Share of female (co-)founded startups in India’s overall venture funding
- Female-led startups that raised the most funds in 2024
- Capital raised by female-founded startups by headquarters, verticals, and funding stages.
- Perspectives from female founders that raised funding in 2024
