Studies show that women-led startups outperform their male counterparts in revenue. Other research indicates that companies with more gender diversity generate better financial returns. Yet less than 3 percent of venture capital dollars went to all-women founding teams last year. That’s just $2.5 billion of the $84 billion raised by startups in 2017.
A crucial step to helping more female entrepreneurs succeed may be to encourage more women to join venture capital firms.
Some point to the investor community as one reason for the gap. A 2016 survey conducted by the National Venture Capital Association and Deloitte found that just 11 percent of VC firm investment partners were women. Evidence suggests that the lack of female partners makes firms less likely to invest in female-led startups.
Here are more than 50 women VCs and angel investors backing startups in Seattle and Portland
