Gender diversity remains a challenge for startups even today. About 77 per cent startups (compared to 69 per cent in 2019) surveyed by InnoVen Capital, the venture debt and lending platform, had less than 20 per cent of women in leadership roles in 2020. These figures were revealed in the sixth edition of the InnoVen Startup Outlook Report.
A significant 72 per cent of founders expect a higher pace of hiring in 2021, especially in the digital media, e-commerce, logistics and deep tech space.
More than thirds of founders who attempted to obtain funding in 2020 were successful in doing so, admitting to a “favourable experience”. Education technology, media and e-commerce reported the “most favorable experience” in 2020. However, in 2019, more founders (75 per cent) had reported a favourable experience. About 71 per cent of startup founders feel the environment for fund raising will be more favourable in 2021. Founders from enterprise/SaaS, logistics, e-Commerce and fintech are the most optimistic about the funding environment in 2021. Interestingly, a majority (77 per cent) said they would focus on growth rather than profitability in 2021.
Signs of recovery seem strong, with two-thirds of companies having crossed pre-COVID revenue run-rate by December 2020. The strongest recovery was witnessed in the e-commerce, logistics (e-commerce), B2B platforms, enterprise software and D2C consumer brands space.
