World War II-era obstacle is curbing French startup diversity

While observers say the venture capital and tech scene is overwhelmingly White, out of step with the makeup of the rest of the country, it’s mostly illegal to track people’s ethnicity. — StartupStockPhotos/Pixabay

The startup scene in France has the same problem that plagues the industry everywhere – too little diversity. Trouble is, in France you can’t measure it.

While observers say the venture capital and tech scene is overwhelmingly White, out of step with the makeup of the rest of the country, it’s mostly illegal to track people’s ethnicity. France has rules preventing firms from keeping tabs on the metric, which originate in part from the Nazis’ use of labels to target Jewish people and other minorities during World War II.