There has been clear progress in the inclusion of women into the tech industry, but there is still much work to be done.
Recent research by Deloitte predicts that by the end of 2022, one in four leadership roles in the tech industry will be held by women. These results indicate that the global representation of women in the tech sector is up by 7% since 2019, and some of the largest tech companies are leading the charge. For example, HP has pledged to reach 50% gender representation at the leadership level by 2030. Even more surprising is a recent study that announced that the Saudi Arabian tech sector included 28% women in the third quarter of 2021, higher than Europe’s 17.5%.
However, gender equality in the sector is far from achieved. According to a recent study, 94% of women say they are held to a higher standard to men. Furthermore, women are also asked to perform more administrative tasks than men. In a recent study by Women Who Code, 82% of women feel they are not adequately compensated or provided enough training. It comes as no surprise, then, that 42% of women in the tech sector changed jobs last year driven by better possibilities.
It’s even harder for women of color. Recent headlines suggest that Asian women in tech face harder workplace conditions than white women. Another study by Bloomberg found that many women of color are saddled with more office work, and that a negative company culture leads many to leave the tech-sector mid-career.
It is for the above reasons that we have been highlighting women in leadership roles in climate tech. In this ongoing series, we aim to highlight the female founders who are both creating the technology needed to address climate change and those helping drive and finance it. These role models inspire us to keep creating and supporting climate innovation and, in doing so, spur on the positive feedback cycle for other climate-focused women!
For more useful resources on female founders and investors, we recommend taking a look at our first three editions of Women Driving Climate Tech: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 as well as Pitchbooks Dashboard for European and US VC Female Founders.
If you know of any female-led teams doing or funding climate-positive work, we hope you share it with us in the form at the end!
1. Sofia Hmich
Founder
Firm: Future Positive Capital
Climate Action Area: Climate Tech
Company Mission: Future Positive Capital invests in companies that apply advanced technologies to massive global needs. We invest in companies that use AI, robotics, synthetic biology, genetic engineering, and other deep technologies to build highly profitable businesses that solve the world’s most pressing problems.
2. Evolena de Wilde d’Estmael
Co-founder and CEO
Company: Faircado
Climate Action Area: Circular economy, climate tech
Company Mission: Faircado tackles our waste and overconsumption problem by turning our “take-make-use-dispose” economy into a truly circular one. Today, buying second-hand is still way more time consuming, less convenient and attractive than buying new. We use AI to turn second-hand into every consumer’s first choice, by making them save time, money and CO2 while buying what they need.
3. Íris Ólafsdóttir
CEO
Company: Orb
Climate Action Area: GHG capture monitoring and storage
Company Mission: Orb Vision is for registering and monitoring carbon afforestation projects. Satellite data, In-forest computer vision and AI are used to measure carbon sequestration. Marketplace for carbon credits with full transparency.
4. Vlada Musvydaite
Founder and CEO
Company: #Walk15
Climate Action Area: EduTech, Climate Tech
Company Mission: #climatetech – We are inspiring companies and (our 260 K users) to walk more (instead of driving a car) and convert steps to REAL trees. We have already planted the first step forrest in Lithuania and planning to expand to Europe.
5. Julia Collins
Founder and CEO
Company: Planet FWD
Climate Action Area: AgTech
Company Mission: Planet FWD is the leading carbon management platform for consumer products. Leveraging the largest LCA database for agricultural products in North America and advanced value chain modeling, we make it easier to take climate action.
6. Claudia Winkler
Co-founder
Firm: Goood Mobile
Climate Action Area: Climate Tech
Company Mission: Our mission is to create impact for our ventures, partners AND for society.
We transform traditional business models for the next generation by using innovative and agile solutions.
7-8. Shilpika (Shilps) Gautam and Aina Abiodun
Co-Founders
Company: SALT
Climate Action Area: FinTech, Carbon Markets
Company Mission: SALT’s mission is to help brands and corporates access credible carbon markets.
9. Charlotta Holmquist
Co-Founder
Company: Bl!xt
Climate Action Area: Energy production
Company Mission: A Swedish startup that is the first company to develop miniature, solid state circuit breakers and solid-state multidirectional voltage converters enabling full software control of electricity for the residential market.
10. Ezhil Subbian
CEO
Company: String Bio
Climate Action Area: Food Tech
Company Mission: String’s purpose is to commercialize next generation ingredients that enable sustainability and traceability in evolving value chains.
11. Caitlin Wale
Manager
Firm: Counteract
Climate Action Area: GHG Capture, Monitoring and Storage, Food and AgTech
Company Mission: Counteract is a carbon removal company combating the climate crisis through research, development and investment. We give engineer and scientist entrepreneurs the financial and strategic support to turn fresh ideas into self-sustaining businesses with the potential to capture or store greenhouse gases at global scale.
12. Nicole Poindexter
Founder and CEO
Company: Energicity
Climate Action Area: Energy production
Company Mission: Energicity builds and operates solar powered community scale grids providing rural and off-grid communities with electric power.
13. Nina Mannheimer
Co-founder
Company: Klim
Climate Action Area: Food and AgTech
Company Mission: Klim supports farmers in the transition to regenerative agriculture through access to education and financial support CO2 capture and biodiversity improvements.
14. Amira Cheniour
Co-founder and CEO
Company: Seabex
Climate Action Area: AgTech
Company Mission: Seabex is an Agritech startup that increases yield efficiency through AI and smart control.
15. Lena Thiede
Co-founder
Company: Planet A
Climate Action Area: Climate Tech
Company Mission: We are the first European VC with a dedicated science team to quantify the environmental impact of an innovation. We calculate Life Cycle Assessments to assess startups and only invest if the results are positiv. All studies are published on our portfolio pages on our website.
16. Kameale C. Terry
CEO
Company: ChargerHelp!
Climate Action Area: Transportation
Company Mission:
ChargerHelp! sits at the intersection of workforce development, adult learning, and clean technology. We are obsessed with leveraging technology to remove barriers and enable economic mobility within all communities.
17. Liron Nimrodi
Co-founder and CEO
Company: Zero Egg
Climate Action Area: Food Tech
Company Mission: Zero Egg has developed a plant-based egg that is lighter on the planet’s resources.
18. Daphna Nissenbaum
Founder and CEO
Company: TIPA
Climate Action Area: Plastic
Company Mission: TIPA has developed revolutionary biodegradable packaging solutions for the food industry. These unique packaging solutions degrade biologically in up to 180 days in industrial compost – compared to regular common plastic packages that degrade in dozen of years.
19. Sanchali Pal
Founder and CEO
Company: Joro
Climate Action Area: EduTech
Company Mission: Joro empowers people to take climate action that matters. Through an intuitive app, people can manage their carbon footprint, develop a climate action practice, and build community to tackle the biggest crisis of our generation.
20. Qhalisa Khan
Senior Analyst
Company: Active Impact Investments
Climate Action Area: Climate Tech
Company Mission: Investing in climate tech start-ups with funds and talent to accelerate growth.
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