A group of 25 Dutch venture capital investors and start-up lobby group TechLeap, have set up a new project which they hope will lead to more diverse start-up funding, in particular towards female founders.

New research by TechLeap, a government-backed agency, shows that just 3.5% of the €538m invested in Dutch start-ups last year went to companies with a woman in the founding team, the NRC reported on Wednesday. But 17% of the teams in the survey had at least one female founder.

The new initiative, known as FundRight and which also involves TechLeap, has set targets to address the inequality. In particular, the backers have pledged to make sure that the management teams of their current and future portfolio companies will have a 35% female workforce within three years.

TechLeap’s special envoy prince Constantijn said in a press statement the initiative is an important one.

‘More VCs need to take responsibility for investing more in women-led companies and diverse teams. The current situation is not only a waste of talent, but such a monoculture can also threaten the success of companies,’ he said.