Increasing gender equality in funding programs
Who gets access to funding is an important issue for increasing gender equality in the innovation field. By working actively with the issue, KTH Innovation has increased the proportion of women who take part in the Vinnova-financed program VFT-1 by more than 200% since 2013. The proportion of funding for projects based on advanced technology and that contribute to sustainable development has also increased significantly.
Tackling skewed distribution
In 2020, only 1% of venture capital in Sweden was invested in companies founded by women. This skewed distribution puts the spotlight on the importance of evaluating and measuring how funding is distributed. That is why KTH Innovation continuously studies how the funding we handle is allocated based on several parameters, where gender is one.
4-5 million SEK annually in funding progam
The main funding that is allocated to new ideas via KTH Innovation is VFT-1, a funding program that is run together with KTH Holding AB with funds from VINNOVA. SEK 4-5 million is distributed annually to develop and validate innovative ideas from researchers, students and employees at KTH.
Showing clear results
Data from the funding program shows that the figures are developing in the right direction, and that KTH Innovation's gender equality work has generated clear results since KTH Innovation began to actively focus on the issue. Previously, teams with male founders took a much larger share of funds than was representative. Based on a norm-critical approach, we reviewed both our process for qualifying applications and selection criteria, and as a result made changes that gave a positive effect.
Our study shows:
- Increasing funding for projects with female team members: In 2013, only 12% of funded projects had at least one female team member. Today the figure is 38%.
- Representative part of funding for projects with female team members: Through structured work, the proportion of teams with female members who receive funding is now representative of the proportion of teams with female team members who receive support from KTH Innovation. Today, about 35% of the 250-300 ideas that KTH Innovation works with at any given time have female team members.
Sustainable development and advanced technology
In addition to gender, KTH Innovation documents whether the founders actively want to contribute to sustainable development, or whether the idea is based on advanced research. In addition to improved gender equality, it is also gratifying to see that data shows:
- A high proportion of funding for projects that want to contribute to sustainable development. In 2020 and 2021, around 75% of all funded projects were linked to sustainable development and the UN's global goals according to the classification made of all ideas at KTH Innovation. This is in line with KTH Innovation's goal to give special priority and support to ideas that contribute to sustainable development and climate action.
- A high and increasing share of funding for complex research-based projects (so-called deeptech). This year, around 75% of all projects that have received funding are deeptech - a figure that has increased from around 50% since 2017.
Hope for continued funding
KTH Innovation will continue to run the funding program VFT-1 in 2021 with the hope of being allocated new funds by VINNOVA for 2022. Every year, the funds are used to support between 70 and 80 projects in developing and verifying their innovative ideas. The funding is used for things like carrying out market analyzes, developing prototypes or applying for patents. The goal is to take the projects closer to commercialization and to make them ready for external investors or partnerships with industry. In total, a project can receive up to SEK 300,000 in grants.
Almost 450 funded projects
At KTH, almost 450 projects have now been funded through VFT-1. The funding program has been a powerful tool for innovation support at KTH and has played a central part in many ideas becoming companies and reaching the market. A clear example of the leverage the program provides is that KTH projects have secured well over 1 billion in additional commercial funding.
"This is a fantastic program for all researchers and students who need money to commercialize and create impact with their ideas and research results," says Daniel Carlsson, project manager for the VFT-1 program at KTH Innovation. “We have so far achieved very good results with limited funds. A small initial funding can be critical to enable important activities that do not fit into traditional research funding, and can be instrumental in laying the foundation for a new innovation company” he says.