Why India’s fintech boom needs to address gender diversity at the top

Indian fintech has expanded rapidly over the past decade, with further growth and job creation expected in the coming years. While there is an increasing number of women-led startups in the sector, greater gender inclusivity can enhance innovation, market reach, and sustainability. Based on their study, Singhal et al. highlight the presence of gender bias, structural barriers, and investor skepticism, and how the right policies can make a difference.

Fintech – short for financial technology – refers to technologically-enabled financial innovations, spanning a vast array from small startups to large financial institutions using technology throughout the value chain of financial services to provide “agile, efficient and differentiated” experiences to the user/customer (Reserve Bank of India, 2019). These institutions consist of banks, digital lending companies, insurance firms, wealth management corporations, among others. Depending on size and scale, the fintech sector draws its funding from a wide range of sources including angel investors, crowdfunding, government schemes, initial public offering (IPO), bank loans, venture capital, and so on .

In recent years, the world has witnessed a fintech revolution that has transformed financial services at an extraordinary pace. However, at the highest levels, fintech is still dominated by men with women occupying less than 10% of leadership roles (Khera et al. 2022). Further, in 2021, less than 2% of fintech companies worldwide were entirely founded by women (Statista Research Department, 2021). Women founders also continue to struggle with raising funds for their companies with women-led fintech companies raising roughly US$1.19 billion in 2023, which was only 3.4% of the total US $35 billion invested in the sector that year. These numbers reflect a gender bias that shapes the industry’s leadership .

India’s fintech sector: A gender lens
The Indian fintech sector is also growing rapidly; it was valued at US$50 billion in 2023 and is expected to triple by 2025. According to the National Payments Corporation of India, the growth momentum is projected to continue, with the industry reaching US$420 billion by 2029 at a brisk cumulative annual growth rate of around 31%. The number of fintech startups in the country has increased exponentially from just 2,100 in 2021 to 10,200 in 2024. Top fintech entities in India include Paytm, Groww, Policybazaar, Digit Insurance, CoinSwitch, Vedantu, Slice, Jupiter, Fi Money, Nio, etc.

At first glance, India's fintech ecosystem offers a more promising narrative of gender equality at the leadership level. As of 2024, India is home to more than 7,000 active women-led startups, accounting for 7.5% of all active startups in the country. This momentum is translating into meaningful financial backing: women-led startups in India raised US$5 billion, accounting for 15.2 % of the US$32.8 billion raised globally by women-led startups that year. Within India, fintech emerged as the sector attracting the highest share of this funding, securing close to US$267 million across 136 deals in 2024 alone.

This positive trend is further reflected in the representation of women at the leadership level in Indian fintech startups. A report by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) found that 42% of fintech startups have at least one woman director or founder, significantly ahead of India’s elite corporate sector, where women hold a mere 18% of board positions in Nifty 500 companies. Even more encouraging, women-led fintech ventures beyond India’s Tier-1 cities have seen a rapid growth of 44% over the last decade (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, 2023).

There i s indeed progress in women's initial representation, true gender parity, especially in top executive roles, is still lacking (Khera et al. 2022). While gender inequality at the leadership level is a reality across the vast private industrial space around the world and in India, rapidly emerging sectors with a lot of growth (and jobs) still to come such as fintech offer a valuable opportunities to proactively put in place policies, practices and standard operating procedures to both normalise and institutionalise gender equality, creating positive path dependencies and virtuous cycles.

Against this backdrop, w e conducted a qualitative study involving a ‘convenience sample’ of nine women leaders in India’s fintech sector who were interviewed in a semi-structured format . Our participants (founders, Chief Executive Officers (CEO), and senior executives) represent firms operating in payments, lending, and blockchain, and have been in leadership positions for at least a year. They were identified through professional networks and ‘snowball referrals’ . Through hour-long online interviews, conducted in English, the discussions covered issues ranging from access to capital, mentorship and leadership dynamics to institutional and policy support. Participants were based in major metros such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi, as well as emerging startup hubs like Ahmedabad. All interviews were confidential and identifying details have been withheld to protect privacy. Together, these accounts shed light on how gender bias, structural barriers, and investor skepticism continue to hold back half the talent pool that has the potential to drive innovation and growth in India’s fintech ecosystem.

The unspoken cost of gender bias: Investor doubts and access to capital
Women founders in the Indian fintech sector frequently encounter skepticism from investors leading to consistently lower valuations and more equity dilution. A fintech leader emphasised the urgent need for visible women role models in fintech leadership, enabling younger women to envision themselves succeeding in similar roles. Another leading fintech founder from Mumbai highlighted a persistent "discount" applied by investors to women founders, noting that despite having better business metrics-revenue, customers, and contribution margins, their valuations remained significantly lower compared to male counterparts. Approximately half the investors questioned the legitimacy of an all-women founding team, suggesting male co-founders would have added credibility. Such investor biases create a vicious cycle where women-led ventures remain underfunded and undervalued, forcing women entrepreneurs to work significantly harder merely to prove their worth.

Along similar lines , the co-founder of a fintech startup from Bangalore emphasised the exclusionary nature of investor networking environments. She pointed out that fundraising discussions rarely occur in formal professional settings, such as boardrooms or structured virtual meetings, but rather in informal, male-dominated spaces such as bars, golf courses, and social gatherings, where women are often absent. Such exclusionary circles systematically disadvantage women entrepreneurs, who must overperform to gain the same consideration as their male peers. Echoing these concerns, the founder of a prominent fintech firm based in Mumbai, recounted raising over US$10 million but believed that the process would have been significantly easier for a man. She described pervasive gender-based skepticism and the existence of a "boys' club" culture in fintech, with informal networking opportunities strongly favouring male entrepreneurs.

Another fintech executive pointed to the disproportionate scrutiny faced by her all-women founding team, contrasting it starkly with the relative ease with which second-time male entrepreneurs secured substantial funding (US$20 million versus her team’s US$2.5 million). She identified this disparity as "subliminal sexism " that is subtly embedded in investor perceptions.

While there are emerging instances of investors deliberately seeking women entrepreneurs, these remain exceptions. A fintech founder observed that women tend to offer conservative financial projections, unintentionally undermining themselves compared to male founders whose ambitious projections typically attract greater investor attention.

Another senior fintech entrepreneur indicated a significant societal double standard around entrepreneurial failure. She emphasised how society readily accepts male entrepreneurial setbacks, while women founders face harsher judgments. Recalling her earlier venture, she observed that male-led startups consistently had ready access to "survival funding ", while her women-led fintech venture struggled to secure even minimal funding to sustain operations. The low representation of women in technical roles within fintech compounds this issue.

Way forward: Can the right policies change the landscape?
India’s fintech ecosystem is at a critical juncture. Without deliberate efforts to address gender diversity, the sector risks stifling its full innovative potential. Gender inclusivity is not merely an ethical imperative – it directly impacts the quality of innovation, market inclusivity and reach, and long-term sustainability.

Think tanks, government bodies, and industry stakeholders must collaborate strategically to establish meaningful pathways for women to thrive within the fintech landscape. This can be achieved through targeted investment programmes such as venture capital funds dedicated specifically to women-founded startups and financial incentives encouraging gender-diverse leadership in fintech firms. Additionally, robust mentorship networks can be developed, pairing emerging women fintech talent with seasoned industry leaders to enhance professional growth and visibility. Finally, inclusive policy frameworks are essential, including State-driven interventions such as mandated gender diversity quotas in corporate leadership, enhanced access to digital and financial literacy training for women entrepreneurs, regulatory frameworks that eliminate discriminatory lending and funding practices, and policies ensuring equitable access to digital infrastructure and resources. Together, these targeted and inclusive policy measures can effectively dismantle existing barriers, addressing systemic exclusivity and marginalisation, and ultimately transform the fintech sector into a more equitable and prosperous landscape for women.

Authors: Shivangi Singhal, FLAME Alumna; Prof. Chaitanya Ravi, Faculty of Public Policy, FLAME University; and Prof. Juhi Sidharth, Faculty of Public Policy, FLAME University.