Unicorns, however no wings for ladies: India’s startup growth is leaving feminine leaders behind
India could also be racing forward within the international startup race, but it surely’s dragging its toes in the case of gender fairness on the high. Behind the glitter of its 117 unicorns lies a sobering reality: Ladies occupy just one in 10 C-suite positions. In an financial system fuelled by disruption, management stays disturbingly conventional, male, homogenous, and resistant to alter.
This stark underrepresentation, revealed by a complete research from expertise options agency Xpheno, lays naked the systemic exclusion of girls from the ability corridors of India’s most celebrated enterprises. For a nation celebrated as a cradle of innovation, the management hole is not only a gender problem — it’s a failure of creativeness.
Gendered glass partitions: Ladies boxed into delicate roles
The numbers don’t simply trace at imbalance — they scream it. Of the 400 CXOs analysed throughout India’s unicorns, a staggering 62% of girls maintain HR portfolios, whereas core strategic and expertise roles are just about sealed off. Simply 2% of CEOs are girls, and fewer nonetheless attain CTO or CIO positions.
In the meantime, males dominate what are perceived as “mission-critical” roles — 45% maintain CEO, CFO, or CTO titles. This isn’t a meritocracy; it’s a tightly managed membership. Range has grow to be a buzzword in boardrooms, however the energy nonetheless circulates in acquainted, male palms.
Success takes longer — and prices extra — for ladies
The management ladder isn’t damaged for ladies; it was by no means designed for them. The typical age of a CXO is 43.5, however girls hardly ever make it to the highest earlier than their late forties. Solely 7% of CXOs between 33–37 are girls, as in comparison with 16% within the 48–52 bracket.
Even then, girls convey extra to the desk — 24 years of expertise in comparison with males’s 22 — and have a tendency to remain longer. However the return on their funding is meagre. Profession breaks, implicit bias, and institutional lethargy maintain them again. In a world that celebrates hustle, girls are compelled to endure a marathon whereas males dash.
Mobility and monopoly: The price of conformity
Mobility, each geographic and sectoral, stays a male privilege. Fewer girls relocate for roles (31% vs. 33%), and even fewer change industries — an indication of how restricted their entry to horizontal development stays. The pipeline isn’t leaking; it’s clogged by outdated perceptions of what management ought to appear to be.
And on the very high, the gatekeepers hardly ever change. Among the many 400 surveyed, 119 are founders nonetheless holding govt reins, additional cementing a management tradition that recycles energy moderately than redistributes it.
When pedigree is not sufficient
Elite levels open doorways — however not all the time for ladies. Whereas 90% of CXOs with postgraduate credentials hail from high establishments, this privilege doesn’t routinely translate to parity. The issue isn’t provide — it’s systemic bias. Ladies have the {qualifications}, however not the identical permission to steer.
Enterprise Capital: The boys’ membership funding the longer term
Even the enterprise capitalists — the architects of startup success — mirror this imbalance. A March report revealed obvious gender gaps in VC corporations’ funding groups. Peak XV Companions is a uncommon exception with 13 girls on a 44-member crew. Others — like Stellaris, Nexus, and Z47 — don’t have any feminine traders in any respect. When capital is managed by a single demographic, so is the longer term it funds.
India’s innovation financial system continues to be enjoying by outdated guidelines
In a rustic that prides itself on breaking boundaries, the management construction of its most iconic startups is caught in a loop of exclusion. The message is obvious: You may construct the following huge thought, however until you match the mould, you received’t lead it.
The startup ecosystem can not afford to deal with gender range as an HR initiative. It’s a strategic, financial, and ethical crucial. As a result of innovation with out inclusion just isn’t progress — it’s hypocrisy.
