Tech investors are increasingly including “#MeToo” clauses in deals with start-ups, forcing entrepreneurs to disclose complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace, as more women speak out about sexism in the industry.
Lawyers and deal advisers said such clauses were being used in contracts, due diligence exercises and codes of conduct on both sides of the Atlantic, following high-profile allegations of harassment and discrimination at major tech companies including Google and Uber.
One investor, who declined to be named, said similar clauses had also been used by asset owners that back venture firms, such as pension funds and family offices, after sexual misconduct allegations at US companies including 500 Startups, Binary Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Israel’s Pitango Venture Capital.