Diversity drive: How to remove the unconcious bias

Gender equality would not be reached until 2040

London-based venture capital firm Fuel Ventures is hoping to improve the diversity represented by the companies it invests in and remove unconscious bias within its investment process by anonymising the founding members of all pitch decks it receives over the next three months.

The tech-focused venture capital firm said it was trialling the initiative after its own research revealed that just 4% of over 4,000 pitch decks submitted over the last four years have been from companies with female founders, while just 13% included women in their founding team. Asset managers bump up number of UK firms on Bloomberg's 2019 gender diversity index In the wake of the study, Fuel Ventures' founder Mark Pearson estimated that investment equality between male and female founders would not be reached "until 2040 at least". Under the scheme, firm principals will view the...