Female founders across Europe continue to face significant funding disparities despite their growing presence in the startup ecosystem. In Germany, for example, women-led startups secured just 4% of total venture capital in 2024, a stark contrast to their male counterparts. Experts attribute this gap to biased investment patterns, limited network access, and a lack of female representation in VC decision-making roles. Unfortunately, this challenge extends across Europe and the UK, where all-women founding teams still struggle to attract equitable funding.
Yet, despite these hurdles, female entrepreneurs continue to break barriers and secure critical investments. In the past week (March 31, 2025 – April 6, 2025), women-led startups across Europe and the UK collectively raised an impressive €69.45 million. This milestone highlights the resilience, innovation, and potential of female-founded ventures, proving that they are making strides even in a challenging investment climate.
Though gradual, last week’s funding rounds demonstrate a shift toward greater recognition of female-led innovation. From deeptech to healthtech, these founders lead the way in some of the most promising sectors. Here’s a look at the women-led startups that secured funding last week, as per Dealroom, driving forward change in the European and UK startup landscape.
WeeFin (France)
Founder/s: Grégoire Hug, Marion Aubert, Guillaume Klech
Founded year: 2021
Recent funding: €25M
Paris-based fintech startup dedicated to transforming the way financial institutions approach sustainability. Their platform offers tools for integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into investment strategies, enabling clients to make informed and responsible decisions. The company aims to bridge the gap between finance and sustainable development by providing data-driven insights and analytics, fostering a more ethical financial ecosystem.
Recently, WeeFin raised €25 million in funding, led by BlackFin Capital Partners alongside existing investors IRIS, Asterion Ventures, and Ring Capital. This funding will accelerate WeeFin’s mission to raise the standards of sustainable finance while expanding its global footprint, particularly in the UK.
Fairly Made (France)
Founder/s: Laure Betsch, Camille Le Gal
Founded year: 2018
Recent funding: €15M
Fashion-tech startup Fairly Made is dedicated to making the industry more transparent and sustainable. It provides brands with digital tools to trace their supply chains, measure environmental and social impact, and make informed decisions. Its digital passports give consumers visibility into a product’s origins, while its Ecodesign module helps brands integrate sustainability from the design stage, reducing waste and improving ethical production.
The company recently secured €15 million in a funding round led by BNP Paribas, Solar Impulse Venture Fund, GET Fund, ETF Partners, and FrenchFounders. This investment will fuel the company’s transition into a pure technology player, reinforcing its role in driving sustainability and transparency across the fashion industry.
Underdog (France)
Founder/s: Claire Bretton, Laura Chavigny, Léa de Fierkowsky.
Founded year: 2022
Recent funding: €7M
A refurbished home appliances marketplace, Underdog specialises in refurbishing home appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, and dryers. The company operates its workshop where technicians restore used appliances to near-new condition. These products are sold at approximately 50% of their original price, complete with a two-year warranty, delivery, and installation services.
Underdog raised €7 million in seed funding from investors, including Daphni and Sistafund. The capital will be used to expand their workshop facilities and increase the volume of refurbished appliances.
Aqemia (France)
Founder/s: Maximilien Levesque, Emmanuelle Martiano
Founded year: 2019
Recent funding: $7.4M
French pharma tech startup Aqemia has developed an AI-powered technology touted to accelerate the discovery and design of molecules with the potential to become drugs that fight different diseases. It has developed a streamlined technology integrating physics-based algorithms and generative AI to expedite drug discovery processes.
Through the France 2030 plan, the company has secured a $7.4 million grant to enhance its generative AI platform’s capability to work with highly flexible proteins and RNA targets. To improve its technology, the company will conduct experimental studies on various RNA and RNA-modifying targets.
GRACE (France)
Founder/s: Lou Dana, Quentin Roy, Martin Lenweiter
Founded year: 2019
Recent funding: €5.9M
GRACE is an embedded insurance infrastructure specifically built for luxury goods. AI-enhanced platform that’s able to resolve claims in days rather than weeks or months. Incident reporting takes under five minutes. Its stack includes instant product protection at checkout (API integration), a full-service dashboard for brands to manage covered assets, real-time claims handling & logistics coordination, and customer-facing experience with zero paperwork.
Recently, GRACE snapped €5.9 million in seed funding to enhance its luxury-focused insurance technology. The round was led by FinTech Collective and Speedinvest, with participation from Firstminute Capital, Purple (Laurent Ritter’s fund), Kima Ventures, Bpifrance, as well as a16z and Sequoia through their Scout Programs, alongside strategic angel investors. The investment will be directed toward expanding its proprietary AI-driven insurance platform, scaling operations, and international growth.
Swedish Algae Factory (Sweden)
Founder/s: Angela Wulff, Sofie Allert
Founded year: 2016
Recent funding: €3M
Swedish Algae Factory specialises in developing high-value materials derived from diatoms, a type of algae, for applications in solar panels, cosmetics, and water purification. Their patented silica-based material enhances solar panel efficiency, provides sustainable UV protection in skincare, and improves filtration performance. The company emphasises circular production and environmental sustainability.
The company recently secured €3M in funding from Chalmers Ventures, an investor dedicated to creating global growth companies and taking new technology from lab to market.
Exobiosphere (Luxembourg)
Founder/s: Kyle Acierno, Olivia Borgue
Founded year: 2024
Recent funding: €2M
Exobiosphere is the world’s first contract research organisation specialising in space-based drug discovery. The company leverages microgravity conditions to enhance disease modeling, reduce false positives, and improve drug development success rates. Its flagship innovation, the Orbital High-Throughput Screener (OHTS), is an autonomous platform designed for conducting thousands of experiments simultaneously in orbit.
The company emphasises bridging biotechnology and space exploration to redefine medicine, focusing on oncology, regenerative medicine, and immunotherapy. Exobiosphere recently secured €2M in seed funding led by Expansion Ventures, with participation from Expon Capital and Space Data Inc. The funds will validate the OHTS system, expand its customer base, grow engineering and bioinformatics teams, and prepare for the platform’s space launch while expanding operations into the U.S.
Evolytes (Iceland)
Founder/s: Mathieu Grettir Skúlason, Guðbjörg Aðalsteinsdóttir, Iris E. Gisladottir
Founded year: 2017
Recent funding: €1.3M
Evolytes, based in Reykjavík, Iceland, specialises in transforming math education for K-5 students through gamified learning platforms. The company combines cutting-edge psychology research with high-quality game design, creating an immersive educational experience integrates math learning into engaging adventures. Evolytes’ platform has demonstrated an ability to accelerate math mastery up to twelve times faster while fostering positive attitudes toward learning.
With a presence in over 1,400 schools and 160,000 students globally, Evolytes is significantly impacting diverse regions, including Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. The platform supports blended and hybrid learning models, empowering top-tier private schools and underserved rural communities.
The company recently secured €1.3M in Seed funding co-led by Omega and Pekron Family Office to scale its operations and expand its reach. Evolytes is positioned as a game-changer in EdTech, driving social impact and scalable growth by addressing global challenges in math education exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proservation (Germany)
Founder/s: Nils Bachmann, Sophia Scherer, Lisa Antonie Scherer and Henning Tschunt
Founded year: 2022
Recent funding: €1M
Proservation develops sustainable, plastic-free, and biodegradable packaging solutions for industrial applications. The company uses agricultural by-products, such as grain husks, to create its patented RECOU material, which offers shock-absorbing properties and is an eco-friendly alternative to polystyrene
The company operates under a steward-ownership model to ensure long-term entrepreneurial independence and alignment with its sustainability goals. Proservation recently secured €1M in seed funding through L-Bank’s InnoGrowth BW program, facilitated by EurA AG. The funding will support the industrial-scale production of its biogenic packaging solutions and drive broader adoption of sustainable materials in the packaging industry.
Calla Lily (UK)
Founder/s: Dr Lara Zibners, Thang Vo-Ta
Founded year: 2021
Recent funding: £1M
British medical device startup, Calla Lily Clinical Care develops a leak-free, convenient, and dosage-confident vaginal drug delivery platform, initially focused on progesterone delivery for miscarriage prevention and IVF, with potential applications in menopause and vaginal microbiome treatments.
The company raised £1 million in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to progress the development of its Callavid drug-device combination. If approved, it will be the world’s first drug-device combination for the condition, designed to improve treatment for women experiencing threatened miscarriage.
CardMedic (UK)
Founder/s: Rachael Grimaldi, Tim Grimaldi
Founded year: 2020
Recent funding: £500K
Yet another UK-based startup in this list is CardMedic, which provides a digital communication platform designed for healthcare settings, helping clinicians and patients overcome language barriers, hearing impairments, and cognitive difficulties. The platform offers pre-written, medically approved scripts in multiple languages, ensuring clear and effective communication in hospitals and emergency care.
With a recent £500k funding round from SBRI Healthcare, CardMedic aims to scale its operations and enhance its AI-driven language translation features. The investment will also support partnerships with NHS trusts and international healthcare providers, improving accessibility for non-native speakers and patients with communication difficulties.
Maps Untold (Netherlands)
Founder/s: Dennis van Ravenstein, Gabriella Gomes Branco
Founded year: 2021
Recent funding: €350K
Dutch AI-powered travel planning platform Maps Untold curates personalised travel experiences based on user preferences, avoiding generic tourist routes. By analysing individual interests and real-time travel data, the platform offers unique, tailored itineraries for travelers seeking off-the-beaten-path adventures.
Recently, the company secured €350K in funding from Rabobank and the Leisure Ontwikkel Fonds. The funding will be used to officially launch its AI-powered personalised city guide platform in two months.
Prewave (Austria)
Founder/s: Lisa Smith, Harald Nitschinger
Founded year: 2017
Recent funding: n/a
Prewave specialises in AI-driven solutions for supply chain risk, compliance, and sustainability management. Its proprietary platform analyses data from over 150 risk categories in 400+ languages, enabling businesses to proactively mitigate disruptions caused by geopolitical instability, labor shortages, and regulatory complexities. Prewave’s technology supports compliance with key global legislations such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), while empowering companies like Lufthansa, Ferrari, and Toyota to enhance operational resilience and sustainability.
In its latest funding round, Prewave secured fresh capital from prominent investors, including Volvo Group Venture Capital, ISAI Cap Venture (Capgemini), Speedinvest, and Perpetual (the family office of Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf). While the exact amount of investment remains undisclosed, this round marks an extension of its Series B from June 2024. To date, Prewave has raised nearly €100M in venture capital.
