Why Female Founders Are Still Overlooked
From EU-Startups Podcast by Thomas Ohr
April 2, 2026 · 44 min · Episode 165
About this episode
Rupa Popat discusses the challenges and opportunities for female founders in venture capital and the intersection of AI and healthcare.
In this episode, Rupa Popat, founder of Arāya Ventures, shares her vision for redefining early-stage venture capital. Rupa discusses the persistent under-allocation of capital to diverse founders, highlighting that female-led teams in the UK still receive less than 1% of VC funding - even though data shows diverse teams consistently outperform. Rupa also dives into the world of AI investing, focusing on workflow-native, human-centred AI rather than headline models. She shares her perspective on the UK’s positioning as a European AI hub, the growing opportunities in Health x AI, and how early-stage founders can prepare for fundraises that go beyond technical spectacle to execution-led, scalable businesses. Throughout the conversation, Rupa explores what it means to be a value-add VC today, the importance of domain expertise in building defensible startups, and the systemic challenges in the venture ecosystem. She highlights emerging sectors, including preventative healthcare, precision medicine, and FemTech, while providing actionable insights for founders, investors, and policymakers. Key points covered in this interview: - The persistent funding gap for female founders and why…
People in this episode
Host: Thomas Ohr
Guest: Rupa Popat
Topics covered
- female founders
- venture capital
- AI investing
- healthcare
- diversity in startups
- early-stage funding
Keywords
- female founders
- venture capital
- AI
- healthcare
- diversity
- fundraising
- startups
- FemTech
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Arāya Ventures
Places: UK, Europe, Health x AI, FemTech
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