Girls founders and traders raised $38.8 billion in funding within the U.S. in 2024, up 27% from the 12 months earlier than, based on PitchBook.
The report was created by PitchBook Knowledge’s Nizar Tarhuni, Paul Condra and Garrett Black. The variety of transactions involving girls founders is down 13.1%, as deal exercise continued to pay attention amongst a smaller inhabitants of firms.
General, feminine founders took dwelling a smaller share of whole U.S. VC funding for the 12 months by way of each deal depend and worth. In 2024, feminine founders had been concerned in 25.1% of all offers, in comparison with 26.4% in 2023. And feminine founders had 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 beneath reveals 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 fairly good probability of getting cash. When it has solely feminine founders, it has a horrible probability of getting cash.
Sport deal information is far worse
But it surely’s far worse within the sport trade by way of feminine illustration amongst funded startups. Within the male-dominated panorama of sport startups, girls had 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 firms raised an estimated $215.7 million in offers in 2024, up from $163.2 million in deal worth in 2023. And feminine founders had been 0.26% of whole deal depend for sport startups in 2024, in comparison with 0.56% in 2023.
PitchBook stated sociopolitical tides are shifting with renewed motion towards range, fairness & inclusion (DEI) and ESG initiatives, which can impression the trajectory of founder demographics within the US. The diploma of impression 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.
Nevertheless, PitchBook stated it’s notable that the entry factors for underrepresented founders could slender
once more within the face of recent challenges, not less than till authorized precedent is determined. Feminine founders will undoubtedly proceed to innovate and lift new capital within the 12 months to return, however a extra even demographic cut up for VC funding stays farther on the horizon, PitchBook stated.
On the great aspect, PItchBook stated that positive factors, although uneven, had been made by feminine founders in 2024. Later stage firms 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 firms crossed the coveted $1 billion valuation threshold.
Feminine founders additionally secured a file 24.3% of whole US VC exit depend in a optimistic sign significantly for traders who work with these founders.
The 2024 US All In report is made potential by sponsorships from Wilson Sonsini, Constancy Personal Shares, and Flourish Ventures.
On the excessive degree within the U.S., bigger checks and a slower decline in deal depend drove extra worth for feminine founders. The 12 months 2024 outpaced 2023 for the third-highest annual degree of capital raised by VC deal exercise for all-female-founded firms.
As of December 31, 2024, a extra muted 7% discount in deal depend, illustrating a disproportionate
decline for female-founded firms. feminine founders. Annual deal depend remained barely greater than its pre pandemic norms and declined at a slower charge than in 2023, indicating some confidence returning to investor communities. All-male-founded and all-female-founded firms skilled comparable traits in 2024, although the all-male class noticed the next 33.2% development in deal worth and The inverse development between deal worth and depend demonstrates the facility of mega-financings for a extra choose inhabitants of firms whereas the broader base of firms continues to face challenges. This development can be VC deal exercise for all-male-founded firms
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 development carried over for female-founded firms as properly.
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 simply beneath 20%. Their share of whole deal depend declined for the third 12 months in a row to its lowest degree 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 superbly linear development annually, however the long run development traces point out progress towards parity.
Inspecting the previous 10 years of annual deal counts reveals stronger CAGRs of 5.5% for all-female based firms and three.8% for female-founded firms in contrast with 1.1% for all-male-founded firms. The following decade of development will rely on the evolution of at this time’s fledgling firms, 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 firms driving extra exercise in VC markets, this hole has an outsized impression on the general disparity in female-founded firm valuations. Nevertheless, the variety of venture-growth offers closed by feminine founders has grown for the previous two years, which might assist shut this hole in time.
Verify sizes additionally rose throughout the board in 2024. The median test measurement for female-founded firms
skilled sooner YoY development than median VC deal worth ($M) as a result of they didn’t increase extra
rounds. Whereas test sizes are rising for those who safe new rounds, feminine founders are sustaining
a decrease median VC burn charge—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 firms receiving funding over the previous two years, as properly because the affect of sizzling applied sciences similar to AI which can be attracting bigger investments. The development of firms by successive funding rounds, known as the “VC funnel,” illustrates the variety of firms that aren’t counted towards these median figures than the broader US class. Whilst
VC sentiment improves, bottom-line controls stay a precedence.
In 2024, feminine founders’ share of enterprise funding hit its lowest degree 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 revolutionary, high-growth enterprises, and traders are recognizing the market potential of female-led startups. PitchBook stated the important thing query is: How can we flip the tide and be sure that feminine founders obtain the capital they should thrive?
Lisa Wu Associate at Norwest Enterprise Companions, stated in a dialogue within the report, “As traders, we’ve got the facility to reverse this funding development by actively in search of out and investing in feminine led firms and by hiring extra feminine traders. Research present that feminine traders are extra probably than male traders to put money into feminine founders. On the similar time, feminine founders shouldn’t be discouraged by this stat and as an alternative keep targeted on the essential fundamentals of constructing a robust enterprise.”
She added, “A founder’s ‘founder market match’ is essential when beginning an organization, and feminine founders are significantly properly geared up to create services for the feminine demographic, which holds the very best buying energy. Girls handle an estimated $32 trillion of worldwide spending and are anticipated to manage 75% of discretionary spending worldwide within the subsequent 5 years. When feminine founders construct merchandise for feminine prospects, they leverage their very own understanding of girls’s wants and experiences to create merchandise particularly tailor-made to handle ache factors and wishes that is perhaps in any other case neglected.”
