Exactly one German unicorn is led by a woman

The Berlin agency Spreefreunde took a look at the German unicorns and their proportion of women on the board: it is 13 percent, and exactly one German start-up with a valuation of over one billion US dollars is led by a woman.

It comes as no surprise when yet another study shows that Women are still underrepresented in the German start-up scene. According to Deutsche Startups, Germany has a total of 28 unicorns, but of all these start-ups valued at over one billion US dollars, only one is led by a woman: Petra von Strombeck has been running the social network New Work, which was founded in 2003, since last year. This corresponds to a share of 3.5 percent.

The event agency Spreefreunde from Berlin has pointed this out. The company also examined the DAX 30 companies and the German unicorns for women at C-level. Start-ups also perform poorly at the overall board level: Only 13 percent are female, which in number is 23 women alongside 154 men on the board. In the Dax 30 companies, however, the figure is not much higher at 18 percent.