Building on the findings of last year’s 2017 Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE cities) Index, Dell partnered with IHS Markit to conduct a deep analysis of the opportunities and barriers women entrepreneurs face in 50 cities around the world. For 10 of these cities, Dell developed blueprints to help them take actions to improve their ecosystem for women entrepreneurs.
“Women’s entrepreneurship rates rose globally by 13 percent in 2017, reflecting broader momentum of increased female representation across the public and private sectors in many regions around the world,” said Dell executive vice president and chief customer officer, Karen Quintos in a press statement. “However, access to capital and technology, as well as cultural and political barriers, continue to limit the success of women-owned businesses.”
Only 2% of venture funding in 2017 went to female founders, with many female entrepreneurs failing to leverage enough technologies to scale their businesses. The 10 city blueprints provide tools to policymakers and city leaders that includes the data-driven recommendations and research on how to foster women entrepreneurs with high potential.
The blueprint cities are:
- Singapore
- Sao Paulo
- Tokyo
- Sydney
- Amsterdam
- London
- Toronto
- Mexico City
- Boston
- Austin
Overall, the 50 cities were ranked according to their capital, talent, markets, culture, and technology, and were split into two groups: operating environment and enabling environment. Individual indicators are weighted based on gender component, underlying data quality, uniqueness within the index, and relevance. The analysis used the past six years of Dell research on High Potential Women Entrepreneurs (HPWE).
The top 10 cities for women entrepreneurs are:
- New York City
- Bay Area
- London
- Boston
- Stockholm
- Los Angeles
- Washington, D.C.
- Singapore
- Toronto
- Seattle
The Dell WE Cities Index is the only global, gender-specific index that assesses their ability to attract and retain women entrepreneurs. Through the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, Dell supports a community of female entrepreneurs by providing access to technology, networks and capital. The 9th annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) Summit was held earlier this month in Toronto, bringing together more than 150 female founders, CEOs, dignitaries, Dell Leaders.
