Reports, events and research on women in VC

European defence tech has never had more attention. Venture funding is at record levels and Poland leads NATO on defence spending. Yet Europe's largest capital pools remain mostly on the sidelines, and US investors lead many of the biggest rounds.

On 29 October 2026 Kinga spoke on the opening panel of the AEIP Annual Conference 2026. Työeläkevakuuttajat TELA ry hosted the conference at Keva’s auditorium in Helsinki. The audience was pension institutions, social partners and EU policymakers from across Europe.

Vintage Investment Partners, a $4.8 billion venture-focused firm founded in 2003, opened a London office in 2025 to grow its European presence. Leyla Holterud, Partner and head of the London office, leads the effort.

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.