Spain has reached a historic milestone: surpassing 10,000 active tech companies. According to the latest National Report on Tech and Innovative Companies 2026 by Scoutyn, the country now has 10,294 companies generating 137,000 jobs and an economic impact of €19,442 million. However, behind these encouraging figures lies an uncomfortable reality: women represent only 17% of tech startup founders, and only 18% when it comes to solo entrepreneurs.

A structural problem that goes beyond entrepreneurship

María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit, puts it clearly: “I believe it is a phenomenon that goes beyond entrepreneurship itself and has a lot to do with structural issues linked to the technology and STEM fields.” Data from the South Summit and IE University Entrepreneurship Map confirm that only 17% of serial entrepreneurs are women, and 17.5% of all Spanish entrepreneurs. These figures are far from the European average of 22% and even lower than the 20% recorded the previous year.

For Alicia Asín, co-founder and CEO of Libelium and vice president of Ametic, “the low female representation in tech entrepreneurship is not a lack of vocation, but the consequence of a system that perpetuates historical inertia and structural biases.” This view is shared by the experts consulted, who point out that the gap also manifests in the lower presence of women in STEM disciplines and tech workforces.

The investment bias: less than 3% of venture capital for female-founded startups

One of the most critical points is access to funding. Natalia Rodríguez, CEO of SaturnoLabs, highlights that the investment gap is less visible but equally devastating. According to data from the World Economic Forum compiled by South Summit, startups founded by women receive less than 3% of global venture capital investment, despite generating double the return per euro invested. “Investment committees and selection algorithms continue to replicate past patterns, seeking success models based on obsolete clichés rather than valuing real performance,” denounces Asín.

This imbalance not only harms female entrepreneurs but also drags down the ecosystem's competitiveness. “Equality is not just a social issue; it is also a matter of economic growth and competitiveness,” recalls Benjumea. Losing female talent means losing opportunities for innovation and more inclusive solutions.

The risk of AI and technology without diversity

Artificial intelligence is a paradigmatic example. “AI is here, and it will be very important for teams to be diverse,” says Rodríguez. Technology will impact millions of people, and if those who design it are always the same profile, there is a risk of perpetuating biases. “There are a thousand examples that when you do it wrong, it goes very wrong,” she warns. “We cannot afford to have half the population far from decision-making and design positions for our future,” adds Asín.

This problem extends to all digital solutions. As we noted in our analysis on the cloud paradox in Spain, technology adoption requires diverse teams to avoid blind spots. Similarly, Google's DiffusionGemma parallel text generation or Cohere's code models would benefit from greater plurality in their development.

Beyond speeches: concrete actions to close the gap

The experts agree that promises are not enough. “It is essential to audit governance processes and the datasets handled by investors to clean up the origin biases that penalize female talent,” proposes Asín. They also advocate for real mentoring and training programs, not cosmetic ones. “If we continue to focus diversity in STEM areas as a layer of corporate paint to meet ESG criteria, we won't move from the spot,” she warns.

Natalia Rodríguez has launched an initiative at SaturnoLabs to attract adult female STEM talent, with a practical approach: collaborating with companies so that participants can apply their ideas in real environments. “We wanted to create a program that helps have female roles in technical positions,” she explains. It is not a one-off hackathon, but a project with a trajectory that connects with the labor market.

Education as a foundation, but with nuances

Acting from school is key, but not to “convince girls to play with robots to meet a quota,” but to prevent the system from stripping away their natural curiosity before the age of ten. “That is when stereotypes consolidate and when they begin to self-select out of mathematics or engineering due to pure cultural inertia,” explains Asín. Technology must be presented as the anchor of the big questions of the future, not as a mere game.

This educational approach complements other initiatives such as those promoted by consultancies like Magellan, which integrate digital sovereignty as a strategic axis, or code agents like MiMo Code, which show that technology advances rapidly but needs diverse teams to be truly efficient.

Recognition that doesn't stay on stage

Awards and recognition help create role models, but Asín warns: “We must be careful not to turn these forums into a closed circuit of self-help or a diversity theme park. Recognition is the starting point, but the real impact comes when those speeches translate into more women on investment committees and more capital flowing to real projects.”

The gender gap in tech entrepreneurship will not be closed with good intentions. It requires systemic change that addresses everything from education to funding, including corporate culture. As Asín concludes, “a product that has forgotten half the population is defective technology, biased from the start.” And in an increasingly digital world, that bias is a luxury we cannot afford.

Original source: ComputerWorld. Analysis and adaptation by ForgeNEX.