Leading with brilliance: 10 European women-led startups securing massive funding in recent years

In the world of venture capital, investors are constantly on the lookout for their next opportunity, assessing markets, teams, and ideas that could deliver outsized returns. Record-breaking rounds and billion-euro valuations often dominate headlines, yet the underlying question remains: Is there truly gender equality in who receives these investments?

In the technology sector, a space that prides itself on innovation, women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. Despite progress in recent years, female-led startups still face systemic barriers to accessing capital. Closing this gap will require ongoing commitment from the investment community, as well as a recognition that diversity in leadership is not just a social goal but a driver of better business outcomes.

In this article, we highlight remarkable women who have led some of the most significant funding rounds in the last 5 years. They have secured the confidence of investors, scaled ambitious companies, and demonstrated that excellence in entrepreneurship transcends gender. Each profile looks at the leader, the size of her fundraising success, and the innovation behind her venture.

Anne Boden – Starling Bank

Anne Boden is probably one of the most recognisable figures in British banking, known for challenging a sector dominated by legacy institutions. Before founding Starling Bank, she had decades of experience in traditional banking but saw firsthand the inefficiencies and outdated practices that frustrated customers. Determined to do things differently, in 2014 she launched Starling as a fully digital bank, long before app-only banking was mainstream.

They offer app-based current accounts, business banking services, and an ecosystem of financial tools designed for transparency and ease of use. Its customer satisfaction ratings consistently outpace high street banks, and it has won multiple innovation awards. Under Boden’s leadership, Starling became profitable while expanding into new markets, proving that challenger banks can achieve both growth and stability. In April 2022, she secured €150 million in funding, raising the company’s total to over €948 million.

In 2023, Boden stepped down as CEO, closing a pivotal chapter in her career but remaining a prominent voice in the financial sector. She now focuses on board roles, advising fintech startups, and championing diversity in leadership. Through speaking engagements, writing, and mentoring, she continues to shape the conversation around innovation in banking and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Charmaine Chow – GetHarley

Charmaine Chow is a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who built her career in corporate law before pivoting to the world of health and beauty. As an avid skincare consumer, she had faced first-hand the challenge of navigating a crowded and often confusing market. This experience fuelled her mission to connect people with trusted experts and products that deliver real, measurable results.

In 2019, she founded GetHarley, an online platform that connects users with dermatologists and skin therapists for tailored consultations and treatment plans. Products recommended by clinicians are delivered directly to clients’ doors, creating a seamless bridge between expert advice and at-home care. The service has also transformed how clinicians conduct consultations, equipping them with tools to deliver personalised advice more efficiently.

In June 2023, she secured €44.8 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €57.8 million, a significant milestone in the health-tech space and proof of strong investor confidence.

Claire Novorol – Ada Health

Dr Claire Novorol is Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Ada, an AI-powered health platform designed to help people better understand their symptoms and make informed decisions about their care. Trained as a doctor and paediatrician, she spent years in hospitals witnessing the strain on healthcare systems and the frustration of patients who struggled to access timely, reliable advice.

Ada guides users through an interactive symptom assessment, suggesting possible conditions and recommending next steps. Millions of people around the world use the platform, and healthcare providers integrate it into their systems to improve triage, streamline care, and free up valuable medical resources. Under Novorol’s leadership, the company has built a reputation for combining scientific accuracy with a user-friendly experience that makes complex healthcare information accessible to everyone.

In February 2022, she secured €25.8 million in funding, bringing Ada Health’s total to over  €163 million. The raise reflected strong investor belief in both the technology and Novorol’s vision to make accurate, high-quality healthcare accessible on a global scale.

Diliara Lupenko – Impress

Diliara Lupenko is Co-founder and COO of Impress, a company transforming orthodontic care with a modern, patient-centred approach. With a background in business and a keen eye for innovation, she has helped scale the company from a single clinic to one of Europe’s largest networks of orthodontic practices.

Impress combines in-person dental appointments with advanced remote monitoring to offer personalised orthodontic treatments. This hybrid model reduces the need for frequent clinic visits while ensuring professional oversight throughout the process. The company’s expansion across multiple countries has made it a leading name in modern orthodontics, appealing to patients seeking both quality results and flexible care. Under Lupenko’s leadership, Impress continues to grow its international footprint and challenge the traditional model of dental care. In November 2024, she secured €77 million in funding, bringing Impress’s total to €256.8 million, a standout achievement in the dental technology sector.

Elina Berglund – Natural Cycles

Dr Elina Berglund is Co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles, a pioneering digital birth control app.  Motivated by a personal search for a hormone-free contraceptive, she used her scientific expertise to create a data-driven, evidence-based alternative. Her work has challenged long-standing norms in reproductive healthcare and brought global attention to the potential of technology in this space.

Natural Cycles uses daily temperature readings and fertility algorithms to track ovulation, helping users either plan or prevent pregnancy. It is the first app to be cleared as a contraceptive by regulatory authorities in both Europe and the United States, a milestone that underscored its scientific credibility. In May 2024, Berglund secured €47.3 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €87.8 million. The rise reinforced investor confidence in the growing demand for personalised, tech-enabled reproductive health solutions.

Eléonore Crespo – Pigment

Eléonore Crespo is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Pigment, one of France’s fastest-growing enterprise software companies. Before launching the business, she built her career at Google and Index Ventures, gaining deep experience in data, strategy, and scaling tech products. She co-founded Pigment to give organisations a more dynamic and collaborative way to plan and forecast, moving beyond the limitations of static spreadsheets.

Pigment’s platform enables companies to centralise their data, model different business scenarios, and collaborate in real time on budgets and forecasts. Its flexibility and user-friendly design have made it popular among finance teams and executives who need to make faster, better-informed decisions. In April 2024, Crespo secured €133 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €396 million. The raise highlighted investor confidence in Pigment’s potential to become a global leader in business planning technology.

Fanny Moizant – Vestiaire Collective

Fanny Moizant is Co-founder and President of Vestiaire Collective, a leading global platform for pre-owned luxury fashion. She launched the company in 2009 with a vision to make second-hand designer goods desirable, accessible, and trusted. Over the years, she has played a key role in shaping its brand identity, driving international expansion, and embedding sustainability into its core mission. Her leadership has helped shift consumer perceptions of resale fashion from niche to mainstream, making Vestiaire Collective a household name among style-conscious shoppers.

The platform allows users to buy and sell authenticated pre-owned fashion, from handbags and watches to clothing and accessories. By promoting a circular economy it extends the life cycle of high-quality items and reduces waste in the fashion industry. In December 2022, Moizant secured €75 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €622.5 million.

Hélène Huby – The Exploration Company

Hélène Huby is Founder and CEO of The Exploration Company, a business redefining how Europe approaches space travel. Before starting her own venture, she held senior roles at Airbus, where she worked on some of the company’s most ambitious space projects. Her experience convinced her that the future of space exploration would rely on reusable, cost-efficient and sustainable solutions. With this vision, she founded The Exploration Company to make access to space more affordable and open to a wider range of players.

The company is developing reusable capsules capable of transporting cargo and eventually humans to and from low Earth orbit. These vehicles are designed to serve research, commercial and industrial missions while keeping costs and environmental impact in check. In November 2024, Huby secured €150 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €196.8 million. The raise positioned The Exploration Company as one of Europe’s most well-funded space startups and a strong contender in a field traditionally dominated by US and Asian giants.

If you want to hear more from Hélène, tune into Episode 64 of the EU-Startups Podcast, where she shares her journey, vision for space exploration, and insights on innovation and leadership.

Lena Hackelöer – Brite Payments

Lena Hackelöer is Founder and CEO of Brite Payments, a Swedish fintech company focused on instant bank payments. Before founding Brite in 2019, she held leadership roles at other major fintech players, including Klarna, where she gained first-hand experience in scaling payment solutions across Europe. Her decision to start Brite was driven by a belief that consumers and businesses deserved faster, more transparent and more secure payment options than what the market was offering at the time.

Brite Payments enables merchants to receive instant payments directly from customers’ bank accounts, bypassing traditional card networks. The platform’s API connects to thousands of banks across Europe, making transactions not only faster but also cost-efficient. In October 2023, Hackelöer secured €60 million in funding, the company’s first major raise, marking a significant milestone for a young fintech competing in a highly competitive market.

Hackelöer was also a guest on the EU-Startups Podcast, where she discussed her entrepreneurial journey, the future of instant payments and the evolving European fintech landscape.

Michelle He – Abound

Michelle He is Co-founder and COO of Abound, a UK-based fintech revolutionising access to consumer credit. With a background in both technology and finance, she co-founded the company to address the limitations of traditional credit scoring, which often overlooks people with strong repayment potential simply because they lack a lengthy credit history. Her vision has been to create a fairer, more inclusive lending system powered by advanced data analytics.

Abound uses artificial intelligence and open banking data to assess borrowers’ affordability in real time, offering loans with competitive rates while reducing the risk of default. By analysing thousands of data points beyond just credit scores, the platform can approve customers who might otherwise be excluded by conventional lenders. In February 2024, He secured a remarkable €924.8 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €1.8 billion. This record-breaking raise positioned Abound among the most heavily backed fintechs in Europe and underscored the appetite for innovation in lending.

Mridula Pore – Peppy

Mridula Pore is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Peppy, a health platform dedicated to providing personalised support for life’s key health transitions, from menopause and fertility to early parenthood. With a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pore brings a unique blend of scientific expertise and business acumen to the health-tech sector. She co-founded Peppy to address the gap in workplace healthcare, where many employees struggle to access the right guidance and support during pivotal moments in their lives.

Peppy connects users with qualified health practitioners via its app, offering live chats, consultations and tailored content. The platform is trusted by employers to provide benefits that improve employee wellbeing, retention and productivity. In January 2023, Pore secured €38.7 million in funding, bringing the company’s total to €48.8 million. The raise demonstrated strong investor belief in Peppy’s mission to make specialist healthcare more accessible and destigmatised.

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

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