Start-ups led by men are far more likely than those let by women or mixed teams to get funding from venture capital groups, according to a new study by entrepreneurs Eva de Mol and Janneke Niessen.

The researchers analysed the investments made by 40 funds and found that just 1.6% of the start-ups they put money into were led by women, website Nu.nl said. Just 6.8% had a mixed team at the helm.

‘Dutch investors in technology are in at the start of innovation,’ De Mol told Nu.nl. ‘They choose which companies get the chance to grow. We’re talking about serious amounts of money and government as well as institutional investors, who are investing serious amounts of money.’

This focus on a homogeneous group, which has an effective monopoly on innovation and decides which products will make it, is storing up problems for the future, Mol said.

‘A lack of diversity in technology will lead to a less inclusive society in which not everyone has the same opportunities.’