Women are vastly underrepresented among founders and investors of emerging Web3 technologies.
This is the finding of a study conducted by BCG X, the tech build and design unit of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and People of Crypto Lab, a creative and innovation studio that aims to boost diversity, equity and inclusion in the Web3 ecosystem.
The firms partnered to analyse the gender diversity of founders and investors using a database from Crunchbase consisting of nearly 2 800 participants.
Titled “Web3 already has a gender diversity problem”, the study also notes that in funding for Web3 companies, the split is even wider.
The study comes as Web3 has become a catch-all term for the vision of a new, better internet.
At its core, Web3 uses blockchains, crypto-currencies and non-fungible tokens to give power back to the users in the form of ownership.
The premise of “Web 3.0” was coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood shortly after Ethereum launched in 2014.
Widespread adoption
According to Future Market Insights, the Web3 blockchain market is currently valued at $2.86 billion. It says the demand for Web3 is anticipated to reach a high of $116.51 billion by the year 2033.
Future Market Insights believes the expansion of the Web3 market will be spurred by the widespread adoption of this technology for use in business settings, particularly in the realms of smart contracts, digital identity, documentation and exchanges.
BCG X says Web3 companies – those developing radical new applications involving the metaverse, blockchain technologies and crypto-currencies that are set to transform many global industries – are on the cutting-edge of shaping the future of the digital world.
However, it notes that in one aspect these companies remain stuck in the past – women are vastly underrepresented among founders and investors.
What’s more, it adds, that underrepresentation is greater than in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and the wider tech industry.
According to the study, only 13% of Web3 founding teams include a woman, and only 3% have a team that is exclusively made up of women.
It also found that all-male founding teams raise nearly four times as much, on average, as all-female teams – almost $30 million compared to about $8 million.
Among Web3 companies that have raised more than $100 million, the percentage with all-female founding teams is zero.
The gender disparity extends to the overall web workforce, says the report, adding that among all employees at top Web3 start-ups, the share of women is higher – approximately 27% – but they are often clustered in non-technical roles, such as HR and marketing.
Double crisis
This gap is greater than in the overall workforce in STEM-based fields, where women make up 33% of the workforce, with 25% filling technical roles.
“The numbers are alarming. This is an economic as well as a diversity crisis, with opportunities being missed to back and scale businesses designed with female customers in mind,” says Jessica Apotheker, BCG chief marketing officer and a co-author of the study.
“The gender gap in Web3 is an even bigger problem than what we’ve long known about in STEM companies overall. With Web3, we’re not just talking about tech – we’re talking about tech applied to every industry and every aspect of life.
“Web3 companies will shape how people represent themselves online, transact business and interact with each other. BCG research has found that companies with diverse leadership teams are better at innovation and more profitable.
“Web3 companies that do not embrace and leverage diversity from the start will forego a huge business and monetisation opportunity.”
As women continue to be left behind by Web3 funders and investors, in South Africa, crypto exchange Binance, through its philanthropic arm Binance Charity, recently announced it is working with Women in Tech to provide Web3 vocational training for 2 800 women in rural communities in SA and Brazil, creating future entrepreneurs and job creation.
“Web3 will revolutionise how we interact, transact and monetise as a society, but this can only be achieved if women are equally involved in its development,” says Simone Berry, co-founder of People of Crypto Lab and a co-author of the study.
“Despite the current ecosystem being biased towards men, we are very early in development, with an incredible opportunity to not repeat past mistakes and ensure women have the resources and funding they need to lead the new digital economy.”
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