Funding for female-led startups is on the upswing, Jeff reports on this Business Beat, at least in certain areas of the country.
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Good morning, Paul!
We’ve got data this morning on the Business Beat relating to how female founders are faring and raising startup capital. Good news to report that things are definitely on the upswing, at least in certain regions of the country.
What areas are leading the increase in funding for female-led startups? Well, PitchBook reports that the Southwest is, well, hot led by Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix. These metro areas have seen explosive growth in capital raised by female-founded startups in recent years as have Washington, D.C., and Denver. In fact, these areas have seen a more than doubling of funding going to female-led startups over the last three years.
Now Austin, Texas, specifically has seen female-founded startups raise more than $2.8 billion since the start of 2020. To put this in perspective, that’s a 161% increase from its total raised from 2008 to 2019. Dallas-Fort Worth experiencing a similar upward tick of about 158% in growth.
Which startups are getting the money? Well, deals in health care services and systems alongside pharmaceuticals and biotech have underpinned the increases in capital raised by female founders. In the Washington, D.C., metro area, for example, female-founded startups and pharmaceuticals and biotech raised nearly as much in 2020 and 2021 alone than they did the entire 11-year period from 2008 to 2019.
And the increased amount of funding going to female-led startups isn’t just a result of a greater number of deals. Rather, the data shows that the funding per company has gone up substantially as well. I
n St. Louis, for example, the average value for a deal completed since 2020? $12.4 million. That’s more than double what it was again from that 11-year period, 2008 to 2019.
So this is really good news, Paul. Happy to report it right here on the Business Beat. I’m Jeff Sloan and that is today’s Business Beat right here on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
