The Hidden Filters: How to Fix the Biases that Skew Investment Pipelines Away from Women Founders
April 10, 2026
Over the past decade, gender lens investing has moved from the fringes of impact investing into a more mainstream priority for many investors. But as Michal Januszewski at LeFil Consulting argues, while the overall gender-lens thesis has gained traction, the actual representation of women-led businesses remains stubbornly low within investor portfolios, with women-only founding teams capturing just 2.3% of global VC funding in 2024. He explores the structural and behavioral biases that can exclude women founders in each stage of the investment funnel, and shares practical recommendations on how investors can address them.
