According to PitchBook, female founders and investors raised $38.8 billion in the U.S. in 2024, a 27% increase from the previous year.
The report was created by Nizar Tarhuni, Paul Condra and Garrett Black of Pitchbook Data. The number of transactions involving female founders fell by 13.1% as transaction activity continued to be concentrated among smaller companies.
Overall, female founders accounted for a smaller share of the total U.S. venture capital funding in that year in terms of transaction quantity and value. In 2024, female founders accounted for 25.1% of all transactions, compared with 26.4% in 2023. Female founders have 19.9% of the total VC transaction value in 2024, compared with 20.8% in 2023. It’s clear that male founders dominate tech startups.
Bad news? Well, when funds bounce back, the deal slipped in 2024. A chart below shows that only women’s teams account for 2% of overall venture capital in 2024. That is, when there is a man who runs alongside a woman, the company has a great chance of making money. When it only has female founders, it has a great opportunity to make money.
Game transaction data is worse
But in terms of female representation of funding startups, things are much worse in the gaming industry. In the male-dominated landscape of gaming startups, women account for only 0.11% of the value of gaming VC transactions in 2024, while women account for only the value of VC transactions at 0.18% in 2023.
The female founder of the gaming company raised an estimated $215.7 million in deals in 2024, up from the $163.2 million deal value in 2023. Women founders account for 0.26% of the total transactions in 2024, compared with 0.56% in 2023.
PitchBook said socio-political trends are changing with renewed action on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and ESG programs, which will impact the trajectory of the U.S. founder demographics. The degree of impact remains uncertain. President Donald Trump’s executive order ends the DEI initiative and related ongoing legal battles will take some time to resolve and reflect in the funding data.
However, PitchBook says it is worth noting that the entry point for underrepresented founders may shrink,
Again, face new challenges, at least before deciding on legal precedents. Pitchbook said female founders will undoubtedly continue to innovate and raise new capital in the coming year, but the population of VC investments is still farther apart.
The upside is that while female founders generate revenue in 2024, it is unbalanced. Later stage companies and companies operating in certain software and healthcare sub-industry had a lot of capital momentum. The number of newly cast unicorns has increased significantly as 13 female founding companies have crossed the $1 billion valuation threshold.
Female founders also scored a record 24.3% with positive signals, especially for investors working with these founders.
Sponsorship of Fidelity Private Stocks and thriving adventure companies makes all reports for 2024 possible through Wilson Sonsini.
At high levels in the United States, larger checks and slower transactions reduce the value of female founders. 2024 surpassed the third highest annual capital level in 2023, the third-grade capital raised for companies created by all women.
As of December 31, 2024, the number of transactions decreased by 7%, indicating a disproportionate
Decline of women’s founding companies. Female founder. The number of annual transactions is slightly higher than its pandemic norms and is declining at a slower pace than in 2023, indicating some confidence in the investor community. While transaction value in the all-male category increased by 33.2%, the reverse trend between transaction value and count suggests that the power of large companies over a more selective corporate population suggests that the all-male category has a higher growth rate and the company has a higher reverse trend, the all-male category has increased by 33.2%, while the wider companies are still facing challenges. This trend is also a VC trading activity for all men’s companies
Prebio/seed trading volumes have taken a huge hit in all U.S. deals, while the maturity risk growth phase of trading volume increases, and this trend continues with women-founded companies.
Female founders’ share of total U.S. venture capital trading activity is trending downward in 2024.
Female founders have taken the country’s total VC transactions to a smaller share in 2024. The percentage of its transaction value (usually more volatile and market-driven) declines below 20%. Their share of total transactions fell to its lowest level since 2018 for the third consecutive year, but remains above the 25% threshold.
Given the number of variables that a company completes transactions, it is unlikely that the share of female founders in total funding activities will follow perfect linear progress each year, but the long-term trend line indicates progress towards parity.
In examining the annual transaction counts over the past 10 years, all-female found companies have a higher CAGR, with women founding companies having a CAGR of 3.8% and all-male founding companies having a CAGR of 1.1%. Growth over the next decade will depend on the development of today’s fledgling companies, socio-economic factors, and the development of investor relations.
The valuation of early-stage venture capital valuations ($M) women founded by women rose in 2024 along with extensive U.S. activity, but there is still a big gap between the two categories in the late-stage and venture capital growth phases.
As these mature companies drive more activity in the venture capital market, this gap has had a huge impact on the overall variance in the valuation of companies created by women. However, the number of risk-growing transactions ended by female founders has increased over the past two years, which may help to bridge the gap in time.
Check sizes are also fully increased in 2024.
Growth faster than the median VC transaction value ($M) experiences because they do not improve additional
round. While the size of check size is increasing, female founders are still under maintenance
The median VC burn rate is lower – capital difference and months between rounds – the broader U.S. categories are one third and almost one quarter, respectively.
This growth reflects the high selectivity of companies that have received funding over the past two years, and the impact of popular technologies such as AI, attracting greater investment. The company’s development through a continuous funding round (called “VC funnel”) illustrates the number of companies that do not count towards these median numbers compared to the broader U.S. category. even though
VC emotional improvement, bottom-line control is still a priority.
In 2024, female founders reached their lowest level in five years, while early financing was hit hardest. Despite these headwinds, investors and founders are looking for ways to adapt. Female entrepreneurs continue to build innovative high-growth businesses, and investors are recognizing the market potential of women-led startups. The key question, PitchBook said, is: How do we turn the trend and make sure female founders get the funds they need?
“As investors, we have the right to reverse this funding trend by actively seeking and investing in women’s LED companies and hiring more women investors. Research shows that female investors are more likely to invest in women’s founders than male investors. At the same time, this statistics should not discourage women founders, but focus on building a fundamental foundation for a strong business.”
She added: “When starting a company, the founder’s ‘founder market fit’ is crucial, and female founders are particularly capable in creating products and services for the female population, who has the highest purchasing power. Women manage an estimated $32 trillion of global spending and are expected to control 75% of discretionary spending worldwide over the next five years. When female founders make products for female customers, they use their understanding of women’s needs and experience to create products specifically targeting pain points and desires that may be overlooked.”
Source link
