Communitech’s Hyperdrive Accelerator Experiences Trend of More Female Founders

At least Canadian accelerator is expriencing a positive trend: more female startup founders.

In the first cohort that went through Communitech’s Hyperdrive program, not a single founder was female. In the second cohort, two founders were female. In the program’s current cohort, there are four.

The female presence remains small overall—just 20% of the three cohorts combined—but it’s difficult to ignore the trend. Hyperdrive’s six startups with female founders are Renomii, BeanEvo, Kreyonic, Cream.hr, Tacit Innovations, and Plasticity (formerly The Smile Epidemic).

And if you don’t think it matters whether the startup ecosystem has female founders, read this article by Shaherose Charania. Here’s a snippet:

Study after study has shown that gender diversity enhances stability and has a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. In fact, research shows that women-run private tech companies are not only more capital-efficient, but bring in a 35% higher return on investment.

While the rest of the world was getting crushed by the 2008 recession, women (once again) proved their resilience. A report released by the Credit Suisse Research Institute found that despite a challenging economic climate, companies with women on boards outperformed companies who had all-male boards.