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Looking at the founders of fintech companies and investors in fintech, women and minorities are still seriously underrepresented. This will most likely have a negative impact on the development of the sector and its growth opportunities. In this article we will start with a short explanation about what fintech is and its potentials. Followed by some numbers about the position and potential of women and minorities in investing and entrepreneurship in general and in the fintech sector. Then, we will introduce several tools that can help improve the situation.
What is fintech?
Fintech—short for financial technology—is an emerging class of companies that use technology to automate and improve financial services for businesses and consumers, making them more user-friendly and accessible to a broader audience. Fintech companies endeavor to provide more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible financial services to both individuals and businesses. Examples are mobile banking apps, online payment platforms, cryptocurrency, and digital payment platforms.
Fintech fuses two of the richest sectors of the economy—finance and technology. Over the past decade, fintech platforms have revolutionized how ordinary people transact. There is an ever-growing demand for digital banking services for their convenience, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced security.
So fintech companies are new, innovative, and fast-growing. This makes them interesting as an investment, but the upward potential comes with considerable risks. Still, there are some good reasons to consider investing in fintech or starting a fintech company. To start, fintech is growing rapidly; there is a huge customer demand, which is driving this growth. Secondly, fintech is highly profitable. Thirdly, there is strict regulation around fintech. Which lowers the risk from that side. And last but not least, fintech empowers underrepresented groups. It increases their access to services, bank accounts, and savings in both emerging economies and developed countries.
Women and minorities in fintech: a gap exists.
As stated in the introduction, women and minorities are underrepresented in fintech. This underrepresentation is present in all sectors worldwide, not just in fintech, and will influence economic growth. EIB research states that closing the gender and minority gap could increase global GDP by 26%. And McKinsey’s research report (2022) concludes that investing in a diverse pool of entrepreneurs would increase innovative power and could double the number of new firms in 10 years. McKinsey’s report also says that equal gender genderopportunity in entrepreneurship could mean up to 139 billion extra value in the Netherlands alone. Research also shows that teams balanced for gender score 20% better and teams with ethnic diversity score 40% better.
This is not new knowledge, and policies have been developed to realize the huge potential by more inclusive investment and entrepreneurship, but the results are still not what we want. Currently, only 2% of global investments go to female founders, with even fewer reaching women of color. This isn’t due to a lack of talent or ambition; rather, it stems from structural biases, lack of representation in leadership, and limited access to networks. In the Netherlands, 38% of entrepreneurs are female, but they only receive 10% of funding and less than 2% of risk-sharing capital. (EIB report: funding for women entrepreneurs, 2020). For Black founders, the results are even worse. They only receive 0.51% of funding (Black Founders Fund report 2024).
Fintech itself also struggles with a gap for gender and minorities, while it could actually be a tool to decrease this gap. Fintech is actually fueling a financial revolution for women and minorities. Across the globe a new wave of startups is breaking down financial barriers, empowering women with better access to banking, investment tools, and entrepreneurial support. These international fintechs aren’t just offering financial services—they’re reshaping economic opportunities for women, tackling gender wealth gaps, and driving real financial independence (Forbes, 2025, Ilona Limonta-Volkova).
But in fintech’s own ecosystem, women and minorities are also underrepresented. Challenges faced by both founders and investors are discrimination, disconnection from mainstream business networks, and disproportionate levels of doubt about their ability to succeed. But they bring huge qualities to the table, for example, high drive and determination, diverse skills and experiences, and foreign contacts.
One exception is the climate fintech market, where 34% of companies are led by women! At the global level, female founders of climate fintech companies achieved funding parity at the pre-Series B stage, securing 50.4% of early-stage capital in 2022-2023. There are also some hugely successful businesses run by underrepresented founders. For example, Gorillas, the shopping delivery service; Bunq bank (Amsterdam); Deliverect (Gent); and Mindmaze (Switzerland).
