Reports, events and research on women in VC

EWVC founder Kinga Stanislawska took the stage twice at EIC Summit 2026 in Brussels - on scaling capital strategy and building gender-diverse leadership teams.

Kinga Stanislawska presents three critical policy challenges to the EU Parliament: Europe's capital-channeling problem, EU-INC harmonization gaps, and brain drain from emerging ecosystems that require urgent capital-architecture reforms.

European Women in VC joined thousands of participants across 25 thematic tracks at IMPACT 2026 - where business, technology, global politics, and culture converge to shape Central & Eastern European innovation.

Breakfast side event to the CEE VC Summit in Warsaw with Vestbee and Imaguru Startup

The EU held a high-level dialogue on how to build a truly European-scale venture capital market - tackling regulation, institutional capital mobilisation and cross-border barriers

Roundtable on Baltic economic resilience, bringing together policymakers, investors, and business leaders to explore what drives long-term investor trust in the region.

Finland may hold the mantle for being the “happiest country in the world” per the World Happiness Report, but this label hasn’t emerged in a vacuum. The country’s stellar social-support system, which distributes comprehensive welfare packages such as healthcare and education support, has allowed its citizens to flourish, both personally and professionally. 

Lisa Edgar, partner emeritus at Top Tier Ventures and advisor to funds such as Open Ocean, has some words of advice for fund managers. She highlighted how fund managers and GPs can clinch actual LP approval — and what to be mindful of when navigating the GP-LP dynamic.

EU-Startups released the 2026 Top 100 Most Influential Women in European Startups and VC, highlighting the growing impact of female investors and founders across sectors like climate tech, AI, fintech, and health. Several European Women in VC (EWVC) members are featured, celebrating women shaping Europe’s startup ecosystem.

The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), a €1 billion multi-sovereign fund supported by 24 Allied countries, was announced in June 2022 with the aim of investing over a period of 15 years into promising deeptech startups that can address capability gaps in defence, security and resilience across NATO nations. 

Iceland raised €182.4 million in startup funding in 2025 — nearly fivefold year-on-year growth, and over four times Germany's per-capita VC intensity. The newly merged New Venture Fund Kria sits at the centre of this ambition: backing early-stage founders, anchoring domestic VC funds, and actively pulling in international investors. Greipsdóttir discusses how a 400,000-person island is punching well above its weight — and why pension fund participation is key to sustaining the momentum.

Kría Venture fund is a newly established state fund, a result of the merger between two major Icelandic funds, the Icelandic New Business Venture Fund and Kria fund of funds, embodies the country’s appetite to grow its technology ecosystem. In a bid to marry together the strengths of these individual funds, Kría venture fund will double down on two main investment categories — both longer-term, patient capital into funds as well as direct investments in early-stage startups.

In June this year, the British Business Bank – the UK government’s economic development bank – announced its total financial capacity had been expanded to £25.6 billion. The institution has sprawled in size and ambition since it was established in 2014. Initially focusing on bolstering SMEs to drive economic development by providing access to capital, the bank has supported over 64,000 small businesses across the UK. Now, it’s also doubling down on its efforts to galvanise the country’s equity and venture space. This year, it earmarked a fresh £6.6 billion in new capital for promising investments – and Christine Hockley, managing director and the co-head of funds at the British Business Bank, told European Women in VC that the bank has lofty ambitions to tap into the growth market.

Can policy survive politics? Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Warsaw, jointly organised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland

While global enthusiasm toward ESG investing is cooling off, EIFO remains committed to the green transition. The state-owned fund, which is both a national promotional bank and export credit agency, backs Danish companies by injecting long-term capital into the country’s ecosystem, both directly in startups, indirectly through funds and by financing energy and other projects around the world.