Ladies founders and traders raised $38.8 billion in funding within the U.S. in 2024, up 27% from the yr earlier than, in line with PitchBook.
The report was created by PitchBook Knowledge’s Nizar Tarhuni, Paul Condra and Garrett Black. The variety of transactions involving ladies founders is down 13.1%, as deal exercise continued to pay attention amongst a smaller inhabitants of corporations.
General, feminine founders took dwelling a smaller share of whole U.S. VC funding for the yr when it comes to each deal rely and worth. In 2024, feminine founders have been concerned in 25.1% of all offers, in comparison with 26.4% in 2023. And feminine founders have been 19.9% of whole VC deal worth in 2024, in comparison with 20.8% in 2023. It’s clear that male founders dominate tech startups.
The unhealthy information? Nicely, the offers slipped in 2024, when funding was bouncing again. And one of many charts under exhibits that female-only groups accounted for two% of total VC in 2024. That’s, when there’s a man invovled as a founder alongside a lady, the corporate has a reasonably good likelihood of getting cash. When it has solely feminine founders, it has a horrible likelihood of getting cash.
Sport deal information is way worse
However it’s far worse within the sport business when it comes to feminine illustration amongst funded startups. Within the male-dominated panorama of sport startups, ladies have been solely 0.11 % of the sport VC deal worth in 2024, worse when in comparison with 0.18% in 2023.
Feminine founders in sport corporations raised an estimated $215.7 million in offers in 2024, up from $163.2 million in deal worth in 2023. And feminine founders have been 0.26% of whole deal rely for sport startups in 2024, in comparison with 0.56% in 2023.
PitchBook stated sociopolitical tides are shifting with renewed motion in opposition to variety, fairness & inclusion (DEI) and ESG initiatives, which can affect the trajectory of founder demographics within the US. The diploma of affect stays unsure. President Donald Trump’s govt order to finish DEI initiatives and associated ongoing authorized battles will take a while to settle and be mirrored in funding figures.
Nonetheless, PitchBook stated it’s notable that the entry factors for underrepresented founders might slender
once more within the face of latest challenges, no less than till authorized precedent is determined. Feminine founders will undoubtedly proceed to innovate and lift new capital within the yr to come back, however a extra even demographic cut up for VC funding stays farther on the horizon, PitchBook stated.
On the nice aspect, PItchBook stated that positive aspects, although uneven, have been made by feminine founders in 2024. Later stage corporations and people working in choose software program and healthcare subsectors noticed substantial funding momentum. The variety of newly minted unicorns rose materially as 13 female-founded corporations crossed the coveted $1 billion valuation threshold.
Feminine founders additionally secured a file 24.3% of whole US VC exit rely in a optimistic sign notably for traders who work with these founders.
The 2024 US All In report is made attainable by way of sponsorships from Wilson Sonsini, Constancy Personal Shares, and Flourish Ventures.
On the excessive stage within the U.S., bigger checks and a slower decline in deal rely drove extra worth for feminine founders. The yr 2024 outpaced 2023 for the third-highest annual stage of capital raised by VC deal exercise for all-female-founded corporations.
As of December 31, 2024, a extra muted 7% discount in deal rely, illustrating a disproportionate
decline for female-founded corporations. feminine founders. Annual deal rely remained barely increased than its pre pandemic norms and declined at a slower fee than in 2023, indicating some confidence returning to investor communities. All-male-founded and all-female-founded corporations skilled comparable developments in 2024, although the all-male class noticed the next 33.2% development in deal worth and The inverse pattern between deal worth and rely demonstrates the facility of mega-financings for a extra choose inhabitants of corporations whereas the broader base of corporations continues to face challenges. This pattern can also be VC deal exercise for all-male-founded corporations
Throughout all US offers, pre-seed/seed deal quantity took an outsized hit whereas the extra mature venture- development stage elevated in deal quantity, and this pattern carried over for female-founded corporations as nicely.
Feminine founders’ share of whole U.S. VC deal exercise trended downward in 2024.
Feminine founders took dwelling a smaller share of the nation’s whole VC deal exercise in 2024. Their share of deal worth, which is often extra risky and pushed by market results, declined by lower than a share level to only under 20%. Their share of whole deal rely declined for the third yr in a row to its lowest stage since 2018 however remained above the 25% threshold.
Given the variety of variables concerned in an organization closing a deal, feminine founders’ share of whole funding exercise is unlikely to comply with a wonderfully linear development every year, however the long term pattern strains point out progress towards parity.
Inspecting the previous 10 years of annual deal counts reveals stronger CAGRs of 5.5% for all-female based corporations and three.8% for female-founded corporations in contrast with 1.1% for all-male-founded corporations. The following decade of development will rely upon the evolution of as we speak’s fledgling corporations, socioeconomic components, and the event of investor relationships.
Median early-stage VC pre-money valuation ($M) Feminine-founded firm valuations rose throughout all phases in 2024 alongside broader US exercise, however a big hole stays between the 2 classes on the late- and venture-growth phases.
With these mature corporations driving extra exercise in VC markets, this hole has an outsized affect on the general disparity in female-founded firm valuations. Nonetheless, the variety of venture-growth offers closed by feminine founders has grown for the previous two years, which may assist shut this hole in time.
Examine sizes additionally rose throughout the board in 2024. The median examine measurement for female-founded corporations
skilled sooner YoY development than median VC deal worth ($M) as a result of they didn’t increase extra
rounds. Whereas examine sizes are rising for those who safe new rounds, feminine founders are sustaining
a decrease median VC burn fee—the distinction in capital raised and the variety of months between rounds— the broader US class at one-third and practically one-quarter, respectively.
This development displays the extra selective cohort of corporations receiving funding over the previous two years, as nicely because the affect of scorching applied sciences equivalent to AI which are attracting bigger investments. The development of corporations by way of successive funding rounds, known as the “VC funnel,” illustrates the variety of corporations that aren’t counted towards these median figures than the broader US class. At the same time as
VC sentiment improves, bottom-line controls stay a precedence.
In 2024, feminine founders’ share of enterprise funding hit its lowest stage in 5 years, with early-stage financing taking the best hit. Regardless of these headwinds, traders and founders alike are discovering methods to adapt. Feminine entrepreneurs proceed to construct modern, high-growth enterprises, and traders are recognizing the market potential of female-led startups. PitchBook stated the important thing query is: How will we flip the tide and make sure that feminine founders obtain the capital they should thrive?
Lisa Wu Accomplice at Norwest Enterprise Companions, stated in a dialogue within the report, “As traders, we now have the facility to reverse this funding pattern by actively in search of out and investing in feminine led corporations and by hiring extra feminine traders. Research present that feminine traders are extra possible than male traders to spend money on feminine founders. On the identical time, feminine founders shouldn’t be discouraged by this stat and as a substitute keep targeted on the essential fundamentals of constructing a powerful enterprise.”
She added, “A founder’s ‘founder market match’ is essential when beginning an organization, and feminine founders are notably nicely geared up to create services for the feminine demographic, which holds the very best buying energy. Ladies handle an estimated $32 trillion of world spending and are anticipated to regulate 75% of discretionary spending worldwide within the subsequent 5 years. When feminine founders construct merchandise for feminine clients, they leverage their very own understanding of girls’s wants and experiences to create merchandise particularly tailor-made to deal with ache factors and wishes that could be in any other case neglected.”
