Verbit was ranked No. 1 in Power in Diversity Israel’s 2021 Women in Startups Report for the best representation of women in large companies of 500 employees and more. The report was based on 424 startups and 70 venture capital firms surveyed.
Power in Diversity Israel, which commissioned the report, uncovered gender diversity numbers and insights, reasons why diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are important for startups and how to successfully promote inclusive practices.
Noteworthy companies joining Verbit at the top of their categories include Zencity, which secured the leading spot in mid-size companies of 100-500 employees and Darrow, which secured the top rank for small companies of 50-100 employees.
With Verbit’s core mission centered on making the world – including classrooms, workplaces and online environments – more inclusive, it has made inclusive hiring practices one of its leading initiatives. Verbit employs 1,000 people globally, and women amount to 60% of Verbit’s workforce.
“All the recent research done on the subject of gender diversity shows that it significantly contributes to the business achievements of companies,” said Tom Livne, CEO and Co-Founder, Verbit. “It produces different and varied directions of thinking and action that lead to more effective solutions in a large proportion of cases.”
At Verbit, 44% of managerial positions are held by women and the percentage of women in technological positions is about a quarter of all employees.
“At a time of fierce competition for quality manpower, I believe more and more women should be promoted into the industry,” Livne said. “Women should be encouraged to learn technological professions from an early age. If we make the field accessible to them and remove psychological obstacles, we will have a strong and creative workforce, working hard to reach goals, curious and loyal. One that I am personally proud to work with.”
Additional noteworthy 2021 Women In Startups report findings include:
- Medium and large-scale startups see an average of 33% and 36% women representation, respectively, while small-scale startups have an average of 30.8%
- 27% of technical positions (R&D, BI and analytics) are held by women
- 23% of management positions are held by women
- 12% of tech companies are founded by women
- Health tech has the highest percentage of female representation
The report also explored that people and culture, business development and product development all impacted the investment and benefit of DEI in the startup industry.
“A start-up that is attentive to the contribution of an inclusive culture, will reflect the variety of its customers’ identities in its own workforce. This will bring added value to the company and its ability to attract a diverse client base and grow its business. Companies who have a diverse management team and understand the value of DEI, demonstrate better financial results, are able to add improvements and changes to their product offering, and are more effective at problem solving and critical thinking,” the report states.
The report noted key connections among pain points, challenges, goals and how DEI policies can be instituted to serve them. For example, more diverse recruiting efforts can be considered when a startup’s leaders find themselves experiencing high turnover or fast expansion.
Power in Diversity Israel is a joint venture consisting of 60+ Israeli VC firms and 170+ Israeli startups to promote greater inclusion and diversity in the Israeli tech industry. The full report can be read here.