Funding for US-based AI companies with at least one female founder has steadily increased over the past few years, according to Crunchbase data.
Last year, these companies raised $3.61 billion of the $23.5 billion total awarded to US AI startups, or about 15.38%. This is a stable year-on-year increase.
AI Companies
In 2021, for example, AI companies with at least one female founder received 13.2% of all capital raised in the sector.
It was 11.6% in 2020 and 11.5% in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. That’s exciting.
Typically, women and people of color are negatively impacted during times of risky withdrawals.
As investors withdraw into traditional networks they perceive as safe. Note that this data may be slightly inflated as it counts all companies with at least one female founder.
Nurture
Typically, female teams nurture much, much less than mixed teams, giving way to the narrative that the presence of a man always adds to—or in this case maintains—a woman’s value.
Global venture funding of women-founded companies dropped significantly in 2020, according to Crunchbase data.
Although investors and entrepreneurs say it’s unclear whether the decline is entirely due to COVID-19, the pandemic has disproportionately affected women in the workforce.
“I think COVID has a complex impact on female founders,” Pocket Sun, founder of New York-based SoGal Ventures, told Crunchbase News.
“I’ve seen women disproportionately burdened with unpaid work during COVID, and women starting or changing businesses due to the destructive nature of COVID.
Businesses
I’ve also seen women grow their businesses like crazy because their companies serve real, important needs and they are more agile and capital efficient to adapt.”
Crunchbase data shows that more than 800 female-founded startups worldwide received a total of $4.9 billion in venture funding in 2020 through mid-December.
A 27 percent drop from the same period last year.
Although this percentage drop is likely to be smaller compared to 2019 as 2020 funding is delayed after the end of the year.
This year is still expected to see a significant drop in total dollars for female startup founders.
Sun made an early-stage investment in home health test maker Everlywell, one of the few companies led by a female CEO who joined Unicorn’s board this year.
All told, SoGal Ventures’ portfolio companies have raised just under $450 million this year.
How Women Invest, a new fund focused on financing women, has received 150 investment applications from companies founded by women since August.
“We’ve seen women founders focus on the same issues that have been impacted or exacerbated during the pandemic.
Inequitable systems in labor distribution and healthcare/life science,” said Erika Cramer, co-founder and general partner of How Women Invest. .
Sources: Techcrunch | news.crunchbase