Just 1.5 per cent of the top private fintechs worldwide are founded solely by women and receive only 1 per cent of total venture funding, according to a new report.
The inaugural Diversity for Growth Report from global fintech think tank findexable examined 1,032 of the top-funded private fintechs globally as part of its Fintech Diversity Radar that will track diversity in the industry.
According to the findings, women make up only 5.6 per cent of fintech CEOs and less than 4 per cent of chief innovation or technology officers.
“Global prosperity is more evenly distributed than at any point in history, yet our data shows the massive imbalance between men and women in innovative financial services firms,” said findexable CEO and co-founder Simon Hardie.
“Fintech is a key enabler in the digital economy and the sector plays an outsize role in reducing economic exclusion and powering digital transformation.”
The report also found that women make up 11 per cent of board members and 19 per cent of company executives in fintech companies.
Women predominantly hold the role of chief people officer or head of HR, followed by chief marketing officer and chief financial officer.
Last month, the EY FinTech Australia Census 2021 found that women made up 35 per cent of employees at Australian fintechs compared to 29 per cent in 2020 while holding 26 per cent of leadership positions.
“These are positive results, but we still have work to do as a sector to foster even greater diversity and build a truly inclusive sector,” FinTech Australia CEO Rebecca Schot-Guppy said at the time.
Despite the continuing gender imbalance in the industry, findexable reported an increase in the number of fintechs with at least one female founder, which grew from 6 per cent in 2010 to 30 per cent in 2020.
Only eight female-founded companies were found to have more than 1,000 employees.
“While the research paints a disappointing picture of fintech’s performance at building an industry that reflects the real world, this research should be viewed as a line in the sand,” said findexable co-founder Denise Gee.
“From today, all of us – from government to regulators, ecosystems and financial services firms of all sizes – need to ‘dig in’ (not lean in) to make the case and accelerate the progress of women and diverse teams.”
