The State of Female Founders

The Current Funding Landscape: Record Highs and Persistent Lows

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2024 Funding Highlights

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According to PitchBook's 2024 "All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem" report ⁵, women founders and investors raised $38.8 billion in funding in the U.S. in 2024—a 27% increase from 2023's $30.6 billion. However, this growth comes with concerning caveats.

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The number of transactions involving women founders declined by 13.1%, reflecting the broader market trend of deal activity concentrating among fewer companies receiving larger checks. More troubling, female founders' share of total US VC deal activity continued trending downward:

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• Deal count share: 25.1% in 2024 (down from 26.4% in 2023)
• Deal value share: 19.9% in 2024 (down from 20.8% in 2023)

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The Female-Only Founder Challenge

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For startups with all-female founding teams, the statistics are even more sobering according to PitchBook's dashboard data ²:

• 1% of total VC funding in 2024 (down from 2% in 2023)
• 6% of all deals (slightly up from previous years)
• Lowest funding level since 2017 despite more deals than any pre-pandemic year

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This represents the lowest share of venture funding for female-only teams in five years, with early-stage financing taking the greatest hit, as reported by Inc.com's analysis of PitchBook data ⁶.

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Global Perspective: International Variations

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The funding gap varies significantly by region, offering insights into different ecosystem approaches:

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United States

• Female-only teams: 1% of total funding
• Mixed-gender teams: 19.9% of total funding
• 13 female-founded companies achieved unicorn status in 2024 ⁶

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Europe

• Female-only teams: 0.5% of total funding (down from 1.8% in 2023) ⁷
• Mixed-gender teams: ~12% of total funding
• Deal value for female-founded companies crossed €10 billion threshold for fourth consecutive year ⁸

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Regional Leaders (per Founders Forum Group's 2025 Report ¹)

• Finland: 30% of VC investment goes to female founders (highest in Europe)
• UK & Ireland: 40% of European female founder funding
• Denmark: Second-highest proportion after Finland at ~25%

Performance Data: The Female Founder Advantage

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Superior Return on Investment

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Multiple studies consistently demonstrate that female founders deliver better returns:

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Boston Consulting Group Research ³

• Female founders generate 78 cents per dollar invested
• Male founders generate 31 cents per dollar invested
• 2.5x better ROI for female-founded companies

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First Round Capital 10-Year Study ⁹

• Companies with female founders performed 63% better than all-male teams
• Female-founded companies represented 3 of First Round's top 10 investments by value created

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Operational Efficiency (per Female Founders Fund research ¹⁰)

• Female-founded companies burn 15% less capital consistently
• Lower median burn rate: $270,000/month vs. $320,000 US average
• 10% higher cumulative revenue over 5-year periods

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Exit Performance

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Female founders demonstrate superior exit capabilities according to PitchBook's 2024 All In report ⁵:

• Exit timing: 6 months faster to exit on average than male founders
• Exit success rate: 24.3% of total US VC exit count in 2024 (a record high)
• Median time to exit: 7.9 years vs. 8.5 years for the broader pool of companies
• Follow-on funding: 52% proceed to second funding rounds (same rate as male founders)

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Unicorn Achievement

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2024 was a breakthrough year for female founders in the unicorn category, as documented by Inc.com ⁶:

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13 Female-Founded Unicorns in 2024:

• Ayar Labs (optical chip technology)
• Writer (AI writing platform)
• Physical Intelligence (robotics AI)
• The Row (luxury fashion)
• World Labs (AI spatial intelligence)
• EliseAI (property management AI)
• Chainguard (software supply chain security)
• Cart.com (e-commerce platform)
• Xpansiv (environmental commodity marketplace)
• Alumis (autoimmune therapeutics)
• Züm (student transportation)
• Monad Labs (blockchain infrastructure)
• Celestial AI (photonic computing)

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Unicorn Timing (per PitchBook analysis ⁵)

• Female-founded unicorns achieve status in median 4.2 years
• Overall market median: 4.5 years
• Faster path to billion-dollar valuations despite funding challenges

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Industry and Sector Analysis

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Current Distribution

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Female founders show strong representation in certain sectors while remaining underrepresented in others, according to World Economic Forum analysis ¹¹:

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Highest Female Founder Representation:

1. Consumer & Retail: 28% of female founder activity
2. Healthcare & FemTech: 22% (including significant growth in women's health)
3. Education & EdTech: 18% of female founder focus
4. Fintech: Growing presence with companies like Nubank

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Emerging Opportunities

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DeepTech & AI: According to the European Female Innovation Index ⁸, 33% of European VC funding for female founders goes to deeptech (2% higher than all-gender average)

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Climate Tech: Despite massive market ($33.5B in 2024), only $135.8M went to female-founded startups per Trellis climate tech analysis ¹²

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FemTech: Only 1.4% of total investment despite addressing $1 trillion global market, according to Founders Forum research ¹

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The AI Revolution

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Artificial intelligence represents both opportunity and challenge for female founders:

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Positive Trends (per European Female Innovation Index ⁸):

• 25% of largest European funding rounds for female founders went to AI-driven startups
• Female founders in academic environments transitioning to DeepTech entrepreneurship
• AI enabling more efficient startup operations, potentially benefiting capital-efficient female founders

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The Investment Ecosystem: Slow Progress on Decision-Makers

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Venture Capital Demographics

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The composition of VC decision-makers directly influences funding patterns, as documented by Harvard Kennedy School research ⁴:

Current State (2024):

• Women hold 17.3% of decision-making roles at US VC firms with $50M+ AUM
• 82.7% remain male
• Only modest improvement from 16.1% in 2022 and 12.8% in 2020

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Impact of Female VCs (per Founders Forum Group analysis ¹):

• VC firms with at least one female partner are 2.3x more likely to invest in female founders
• Female investors are twice as likely to fund female-led startups
• However, exclusive female-VC funding can create attribution bias affecting follow-on rounds per Harvard Business Review study ¹³

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The Bias Problem

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Harvard Kennedy School Findings ⁴:

• VCs prefer pitches narrated by male voices even with identical content
• Female founders asked different types of questions (prevention-focused vs. promotion-focused)
• Pattern-matching bias leads to replicating past (male-dominated) success stories
• 70% of VC investors preferred male entrepreneur pitches over identical female presentations

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Institutional Barriers:

• Nearly three-quarters of US VC firms have no female investing partners
• 92% of partners at major US VC firms are men
• Homogeneous demographics in gender, race, educational background, and work experience

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Success Stories and Notable Exits

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2024 Major Exits

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Acquisition Success Stories (per Female Founders Fund portfolio data ¹⁰):

• BentoBox (acquired by Fiserv): $300M - Restaurant technology platform
• Billie (acquired by Edgewell): $310M - Direct-to-consumer women's shaving brand
• Eloquii (previously acquired by Walmart): $100M - Plus-size fashion retailer

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IPO Achievements (per Crunchbase data ¹⁴):

• Element Biosciences: Filed for IPO with $170M Series D - DNA sequencing technology
• 14 female-led IPOs in 2024 (up from 2 in 2014)
• Female-founded companies demonstrated 6% higher valuations on average in the UK

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Cyclical Success Creating New Opportunities

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Female Founders Fund ¹⁰ reports a "cyclical nature" of investment, with successful exits enabling:

• Second-time founder investments: Supporting entrepreneurs like Mariah Chase (Eloquii co-founder) with new venture Ekyam.ai
• Angel investor pipeline: Successful female founders becoming investors themselves
• Network effects: Expanding connections and mentorship opportunities

Geographic and Cultural Factors

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Leading Ecosystems

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Certain regions demonstrate higher success rates for female founders, according to Founders Forum Group research ¹:

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Europe's Progressive Policies:

• France's BPI Quota System: Requiring 30% female founder investment for VC funds seeking public co-investment, resulting in 35% increase in female founder funding
• UK's Investing in Women Code: 190+ financial institutions committed to reporting gender metrics
• Nordic Leadership: Finland and Denmark leading in proportional funding

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Emerging Markets Opportunity (per World Economic Forum data ¹¹):

• Low-income countries: 1 in 3 women entrepreneurs growing businesses vs. 1 in 4 globally
• Academic Pipeline: 57% of STEM students in MENA universities are women
• Financial Inclusion Correlation: Regions with stronger financial inclusion show higher female founder success rates

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Cultural and Structural Advantages

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Regions showing better female founder outcomes share common characteristics per Founders Forum analysis ¹:

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1. Organized Angel Networks: Countries with female angel investor networks show 27% higher early-stage funding rates
2. Accelerator Representation: Regions where women represent >30% of accelerator participants show 40% higher funding rates
3. Public Co-Investment: Ecosystems with targeted public investment demonstrate 35% higher follow-on private investment

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Challenges and Threats: The Anti-DEI Wave

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Policy Environment Changes

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The 2025 landscape includes new challenges for diversity initiatives, as reported by PitchBook's All In report ⁵:

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Trump Administration Impact:

• Executive order ending DEI initiatives in federal agencies
• Potential legal threats to funds dedicated to underrepresented founders
• Uncertainty affecting entry points and support programs

Corporate Response:

• Some companies scaling back diversity programs
• Legal challenges to gender-focused investment criteria
• Shift from explicit diversity mandates to "merit-based" evaluation

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Market Concentration Effects

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The broader VC market's shift toward fewer, larger deals particularly impacts female founders:

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Structural Challenges (per Technical.ly analysis ¹⁵):

• Early-stage funding decline: Fewer pre-seed/seed investments where female founders historically gained entry
• Network effects: Established male networks benefit from larger check sizes
• Pattern matching intensification: Risk-averse investors defaulting to familiar profiles

Looking Forward: Market Opportunities and Predictions

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McKinsey estimates that advancing women's equality could add $12-28 trillion to global GDP by 2025 ¹⁶. The female founder funding gap represents a massive market inefficiency:

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The $5 Trillion Opportunity

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Calculation:

• If female founders received proportional representation (20-25% vs. current 1-2%)
• And maintained superior performance metrics (2.5x ROI)
• Estimated additional value creation: $100-200 billion annually

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Technology Enablers

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Several technology trends may benefit female founders disproportionately:

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AI and Automation:

• Lower technical barriers to entry
• More efficient operations enabling capital efficiency advantages
• Consumer-facing AI applications (female founders' strength area)

Digital-First Business Models:

• Reduced capital requirements for scaling
• Global market access without geographic constraints
• E-commerce and D2C advantages

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2025-2030 Predictions

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Based on current trends and data analysis:

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Conservative Scenario:

• Female founder funding reaches 3-4% by 2030
• 50+ female-founded unicorns emerge
• Geographic expansion beyond traditional tech hubs

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Optimistic Scenario:

• Policy support and LP pressure drive 8-12% funding share
• 100+ female-founded unicorns
• Sector diversification into deeptech and enterprise

Conclusion: The Case for Urgent Action

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The data is unequivocal: female founders represent one of the largest untapped opportunities in venture capital today. They deliver superior returns, demonstrate better capital efficiency, achieve faster exits, and address massive underserved markets. Yet they continue to receive minimal funding share.

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This isn't just a fairness issue—it's an economic inefficiency that costs investors, founders, and society billions in unrealized potential. The companies and investors who recognize this opportunity first will be best positioned to capture outsized returns while driving systematic change.

The path forward requires coordinated action from all ecosystem participants: investors diversifying decision-makers and evaluation processes, founders leveraging performance data and strategic positioning, and policymakers creating supportive frameworks that can withstand legal challenges.

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The female founders outperforming in 2024—from AI unicorns like Physical Intelligence to successful exits like BentoBox—prove the potential. The question isn't whether female founders can build billion-dollar companies. It's whether the venture capital ecosystem will evolve quickly enough to capture the full value they create.

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As the data shows, those who bet on female founders aren't just supporting diversity—they're making the smartest investment decision available in today's market.

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Sources and References

Last updated: September 2025

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Footnotes

1. Founders Forum Group. (2025). Women in VC & Startup Funding: Statistics & Trends (2025 Report). Retrieved from https://ff.co/women-funding-statistics-2025/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
2. PitchBook. (2025). US VC Female Founders Dashboard. Retrieved from https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/the-vc-female-founders-dashboard ↩ ↩² ↩³
3. Boston Consulting Group. (2018). Why Women-Owned Startups Are a Better Bet. Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/why-women-owned-startups-are-better-bet ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
4. Harvard Kennedy School - Women and Public Policy Program. Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved from https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/wappp/research/past/venture-capital-entrepreneurship ↩ ↩² ↩³
5. PitchBook. (2025). All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem 2024 Report. VentureBeat analysis available at https://venturebeat.com/games/female-founders-in-the-u-s-vc-ecosystem-the-good-and-the-bad-pitchbook/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
6. Conrad, J. (2025, March 7). "Wholly Women-Led Companies Attracted Just 1 Percent of VC Funding in 2024." Inc.com. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/wholly-women-led-companies-attracted-just-1-of-vc-funding-in-2024-tanking-an-already-abysmal-stat/91156396 ↩ ↩² ↩³
7. PitchBook. (2025). 109 female founders and investors to know in 2025. Retrieved from https://pitchbook.com/blog/female-founders-and-investors-to-know ↩
8. Female Foundry. (2025). Female Innovation Index 2025. TechCrunch analysis available at https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/04/funding-to-women-founded-startups-declined-12-in-2024-but-that-wasnt-far-behind-the-broader-market/ ↩ ↩² ↩³
9. First Round Capital. First Round 10 Year Project. Retrieved from http://10years.firstround.com/ ↩
10. Female Founders Fund. Portfolio Performance and Research. Retrieved from https://femalefoundersfund.com/ ↩ ↩² ↩³
11. World Economic Forum. (2024, March). Women founders and venture capital – some 2023 snapshots. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/03/women-startups-vc-funding/ ↩ ↩²
12. Garden, L. (2025, January 16). "Female founders shortchanged by climate tech investors in 2024." Trellis. Retrieved from https://trellis.net/article/female-founders-shortchanged-by-climate-tech-investors-again-in-2024/ ↩
13. Solal, I. & Snellman, K. (2023, February 1). "For Female Founders, Fundraising Only from Female VCs Comes at a Cost." Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2023/02/for-female-founders-only-fundraising-from-female-vcs-comes-at-a-cost ↩
14. Burba, A. (2025, July 22). "Female Founders Outperform Their Male Counterparts but Receive Much Less Funding, a Study Finds." Inc.com. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/annabel-burba/female-founders-outperform-their-male-counterparts-but-receive-much-less-funding-study-finds/91212886 ↩
15. Technical.ly. (2025, March 7). "VC funding for women founders rises in 2024 despite barriers." Retrieved from https://technical.ly/startups/women-founders-vc-funding-pitchbook-report/ ↩
16. McKinsey & Company. Referenced in multiple studies on economic impact of gender equality in entrepreneurship. ↩

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