Every year, France celebrates its business creators with rankings, trophies and innovation competitions. The photos often show smiles, handshakes, well-rehearsed pitches. But when we look behind the spotlight, another face appears: that of professional equality that is still fragile, sometimes hesitant, but supported by a generation that refuses to leave things as they are.
In cafes, incubators, third places where students, freelancers and young founders meet, a reality is evident: the French entrepreneurial landscape is changing. Women are entering in numbers, but equality, true equality, is still struggling to make its way.
1/ A numerical observation: progress exists, but it is stagnating
The latest figures from INSEE show that 43% of business creations in France are carried out by women. A historic record, but a figure that has been progressing slowly for several years.
However, when we look elsewhere in the entrepreneurial journey, the gaps widen:
- Only 30% of employing companies are run by women.
- In tech, the proportion falls further: less than 12% of start-ups are founded by women (source: Sista / Bpifrance).
- Women’s projects raise 2 to 5 times less funds than those carried out solely by men.
Equality therefore exists… when filling out a creation form. But as soon as we look for funding, visibility or strategic support, the lines become abrupt again.
2/ In reality, equality is experienced in the details
When we talk with project leaders, we quickly understand that the inequalities are not always spectacular. They are discreet, repeated, almost banal.
An entrepreneur says that she is still sometimes asked if “the boss can come and sign”. Another explains that, during a banking meeting, the agent spoke to her husband even though the company was in his name. A third says that they talk to her about “family risks” before talking about an economic model. These remarks never appear in the studies, but they run through the stories. What is striking is that women no longer make it inevitable.
- They are moving forward.
- They organize themselves.
- They even document these micro-experiences so as to no longer leave them invisible.
3/ Financing: the great divide
The collective figures Sista are clear:
- 85% of fundraising in France goes to 100% male teams.
- All-female teams receive less than 2% of funding.
Not because their projects are less ambitious, but because they often come up against a cultural wall: the network of investors remains very masculine, the evaluation criteria are based on leadership models historically shaped around men, and unconscious biases creep into decisions.
However, several European studies show that companies run by women often display:
- better profitability,
- more precise risk management,
- a higher survival rate over their first five years.
The paradox is there: women succeed, but they are financed less.
4/ A new relationship with ambition
We sometimes hear that women “lack ambition”. The research shows something else: it formulates it differently. For many, ambition is not a conquest but a construction:
- create a sustainable project,
- have an impact,
- find personal balance,
- contribute to a territory,
- proving that success doesn’t have to be brutal to be strong.
When men are socialized to “aim big,” many women are socialized to “aim right.” And women’s networks, dedicated incubators and public programs are now trying to break this norm.
5/ Game-changing initiatives
In recent years, several programs have moved the lines:
- The French Tech Tremplin program, which wants to make tech more inclusive.
- The government’s Women’s Entrepreneurship plan, with a clear objective: to reach 50% of female creators.
- Networks like Les Premières, Willa, Action’elles, Bouge ta Boîte, which support thousands of women each year.
- The Sista movement, which pushes investors to finance more women’s projects.
These initiatives do not make inequalities disappear, but they offer an access ramp to those who, for a long time, had not even found the door.
6/ On the ground, a change that can be felt
When we interview female entrepreneurs, one idea often comes up: “We weren’t expected. We came anyway.”
Many recount founding moments: a meeting in a network, a helping hand from another entrepreneur, a workshop where you discover that you are not the only one with doubts.
Equality, in their stories, is not a theory. It’s a daily struggle, but also a joy: that of creating, of surpassing oneself, of taking place. They do not seek to replace men, but to be considered equal:
no more, no less.
7/ Equality under construction, supported by an entire generation
- France is moving forward.
- The numbers show it.
- The stories confirm this.
- The networks amplify it.
But equality in entrepreneurship will only be real the day a woman can launch her business without having to prove twice as much, explain twice as much, or justify her existence. And on that day, we should not look for someone to blame, but rather thank those who, today, are paving the way.
