Reports, events and research on women in VC

Launched in 2025, Lumen Partners is a female founded fund of funds that seeks to make European tech and talent more visible on the map. “We don’t really focus on track record,” Ning Kong, founder at Lumen Partners, told European Women in VC in an interview. “Track records aren’t black and white,” she added.

During SuperReturn week, we hosted a two-hour lunch for LPs, GPs, and allies in venture capital. The goal was honest, unhurried dialogue in a week built for speed. The room delivered exactly that.

The inaugural Forbes Polska and Forbes Women Polska Summit brought together leading business voices in Warsaw to share real experience rather than polished success stories. Set against the city skyline and preceded by an intimate dinner in the Royal Łazienki Gardens, the carefully curated agenda explored themes such as unconventional paths to building skills and competencies. A clear message emerged across the two days: progress for women in business depends on making room for more than one definition of success.

Finding climate solutions and building resilience has never been more pressing. Amsterdam-headquartered Carbon Equity aims to do exactly this.

This week, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board made history by holding its meeting in Warsaw, Poland, for the first time.

The European venture capital (VC) market is navigating a turbulent period. Despite a few bright spots, the fundraising environment is incredibly tough. Transaction activity has hit its lowest point in years, hindered by geopolitical uncertainties and sluggish economic growth.

Europe builds outstanding technology companies, but it lacks the capital, and the willingness to take risks, needed to help those companies scale at home. That is the view of venture fund manager and investor Kinga Stanisławska, founder of European Women in VC. Pension funds, she argues, can play a critical role in changing this. But doing so requires both courage and a different perspective on diversity.

Pension Fund Investments into Venture, the Fund of Funds Perspective

Pension Fund Investments into Venture, Pension Funds Perspective

Kasia Piasecki took the stage with Ian Conotty from British Business Bank and asked the question: How can pension capital participate in venture and growth without compromising its responsibility to beneficiaries?

Sella Venture Partners, the investment arm of Italy's leading banking group, deploys a generalist approach to backing early-stage venture funds across Europe and North America.

Dutch pension funds must deploy capital into European scale-ups to compete with US venture venture investment gaps and build institutional advantage.

Kinga Stanislawska discussed pension funds' critical role in EU competitiveness financing at EU Finance Day 2026, exploring how institutional investors can unlock venture capital for Europe's green and digital transformation.

Investinor, the Norwegian government's investment arm, is betting on first- and second-time fund managers to mature the country's young venture ecosystem. Investment Director Johan Bøe Bjørkevoll explains why power law returns are a feature, not a flaw, and how Norway's tech sector is shifting from serving domestic industries like energy and fisheries toward building for global markets.

In June, WomenInvestEU 2026 brought together over 200 European investors in Brussels to spotlight women and allies driving change in the investment ecosystem. Kinga Stanisławska joined a panel on reimagining a more inclusive investment landscape, alongside conversations with Merete Clausen, Maive Rute, Agnieszka Wojdyr and Caroline Bergaut.