It won't be long before India hits a century of unicorns. But, yet only a handful of these billion-dollar startups have a woman co-founder. This scarcity of women leaders at some of India's most valuable startups is a symptom of the tethers that run all the way down to the bottom of the pyramid.

In India, 7 out of 10 startups have less than 20 percent women in leadership positions, according to an Innoven Capital report.

Long-standing societal ropes aside, there is also a funding bias against women-founders. Sample this - in 2021, Indian startup funding touched a record USD 35 billion, of which only 2-3 percent went to startups with a sole woman founder, as per data from Crunchbase.

But that's not all. Consulting firm BCG found that early-stage funding given to a female founder is nearly half of what's offered to a male founder. It is quite clear that the burden of domesticity comes to haunt women entrepreneurs as they sit across the table with investors - a community that is dominated by men.

Women occupy just 5 percent of senior leadership roles at private equity and venture capital funds in India, as per a Bain-IVCA report. So, it's not surprising that few women founders have escaped being questioned on their ability to balance career and family - a question that's rarely put to a male founder.

At first glance, it seems counter-intuitive as data confirms that funds with a better gender-balance generate greater returns. A startup with more women leaders is likely to see bigger jump in valuation. There is a real need to level the playing field and champion the next generation of women founder-CEOs in India. And, the bridging of the gender gap must start within private equity and venture capital firms, as access to finance remains the single-biggest challenge for a woman entrepreneur in India.

To discuss ways to bridge gender gap in startup ecosystem, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Renuka Ramnath of Multiples Alternate Asset Management; VT Bharadwaj, Partner at A91 Partners and Madhu Shalini Iyer, Partner at Rocketship.vc.

Watch video for more.

First Published:Feb 24, 2022 8:21 PM IST