Women in the sustainability new ventures in the digital era: Out from the shadow of the small country male-dominated startup ecosystem

Environmental sustainability has become one of the key issues for the future development of the European Union (EU). Estonia's startup entrepreneurship contributes prominently to innovative ideas in energy technology and information and communication technology (ICT) applications, essential for sustainability. Research and education are prerequisites for innovation in both fields. The gap in educational levels between Estonian women and men, favoring women, is among the largest in the EU. However, the proportion of women in entrepreneurship is significantly lower, even though the share of women in ICT personnel is among the highest in Europe. This study sought to determine women's contribution to sustainability (technology) startups in the context of these contrasting gaps. The article's dataset was based on sources such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Ministry of Education and Science, Business Register, and Startup Ecosystem. It qualitatively analyzed the sustainability orientation of ventures and the gender structure of founders across nearly 1300 startups and clarified the share of selected startups' fundraising within the entire ecosystem. Through a simple regression analysis, we uncovered some short-term trends. Our findings indicate that 92% of the accumulated €4.46 billion in startup funding is foreign capital, and 171 sustainability startups account for nearly 63% of the ecosystem's total fundraising. Among the founders of top-invested startups, only 6% are women, whereas women constitute 23% of the founders of sustainability startups. Despite this, sustainability startups with female participation have secured only 2.2% of the total investments in the sustainability group, highlighting a drastic gender disproportion. However, the fundraising trend for women's sustainability startups founded in the last five years is more positive, reaching 24% of this group's investments. Although their overall share remains significantly lower compared with the entire startup ecosystem, this emerging trend is a promising sign of the breakthrough for female entrepreneurs in a traditionally male-dominated sector. The article's conclusion summarizes the study's results and suggests future gender-based research and development opportunities.