美国全力以赴：风险投资生态系统中的女性创始人（英）

Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem Contents Institutional Research Group Annemarie DoneganSenior Analyst, Custom Researchannemarie.donegan@pitchbook.com pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Industry trends Published on March 4, 2026 Regional breakdown The exit scene11 Methodology Key takeaways At the GP level, decision-making roles remainpredominantly male, particularly at firms with $50 millionor more in AUM.Smaller firms show greater gender parity, •US VC-backed female-founded companies raised a record$73.6 billion in 2025, even as total deal count declined. More than $30 billion of this came from Scale AI andAnthropic as AI heavyweights created capital concentrationacross fewer but larger rounds. AI captured two-thirds of all Female-founded startups are more heavily representedin consumer and life sciences industries, with personalproducts and food products standing out as the only •Megadeals skewed results toward mixed-gender teams,while all-female-founded companies experienced greaterpullbacks in both deal value and count.In contrast, all-male-founded companies saw steadier deal counts but Exit markets rebounded sharply.Exit value more thandoubled YoY and transaction count rose materially, liftingfemale founders’ share of total US exit count to 24.9%.IPO activity increased, particularly for software players, •The median pre-money valuation rose by more than50% across female-founded and broader US cohorts.All-female teams lagged peers but still posted valuation The largest exits for female founders in 2025 show astrong presence of companies headquartered in Southernstates such as Texas, North Carolina, and Florida— •Female-founded companies have historically maintainedlower median burn rates than the broader market, but thisgap narrowed in 2025.VC funnel data indicates slightlyfewer bankruptcies and stronger advancement rates for Overview All-female-founded companies see sharperdeclines in value and count compared withother cohorts as venture’s stalemate enters All-male-founded companies see moremuted growth in total value, while deal count Female-founded companies account for over one-quarter of total US deal value for first time, drivenby rising valuations of top AI startups Female-founded and all-US cohorts seemedian valuation grow by over half; all-femalecohort lags but still rises by over one-quarterMedian VC pre-money valuation ($M) Driven by megadeals, funding continues toconcentrate in later stages more dramatically Female-founder cohort sees slightly fewer bankruptcies and more advancements after firstfunding round compared with broader US cohort Female-founded companies maintain lower median burn rate than overall US, but the gap narrowedslightly in 2025 Representation at the GP level Check-writing roles remain male dominated… Share of decision-makers in VC firms by gender (with $50 millionor more in AUM) …but a material presence of smaller firms employs a majority-female check-writing staff Share of VC firms with over 50% female decision-makers(with $50 million or more in AUM) Share of VC firms with over 50% female decision-makers(with less than $50 million in AUM) Industry trends Female founders represent most deals in personal and food products, with clinics/outpatientservices not far from 50% deal count mark Long-term growth rates show female founders outpacing totals in several industries 10-year VC deal count CAGR by top industry code Two-thirds of all VC dollars invested in femalefounders went to AI startups, with Anthropicand Scale AI accounting for over 40% of that Biotech & pharma was one of only a fewsectors to see growth in both VC deal valueand count in 2025 AI and prediction markets launch new female-founded companies to decacorn status The exit scene Strong growth in exits alongside overall USrecovery, with value more than doubling and Female founders’ share of total exit countcontinues steady upward trajectory, and their Despite an overall slow IPO market, the female-founded listing count held steady from 2024, withstrong showing by Southern states Female-founded companies historically exit faster than overall US median, but that gap has closedMedian time (years) from founding to exit for VC-backed companies Methodology Female GPs include only fully disclosed decision-makerswho were with their firms as of December 31, 2025. Decision-makers include partners, principals, and managing directors. The All In reports utilize PitchBook’s standardVC methodologies. Throughout this report, we refer to “female-foundedcompanies” as VC-backed companies with at least onefemale founder, unless otherwise noted. Classification as “Active” angel investors refer to those who have made at leastone US VC deal during that year. Data excludes all OpenAI deals. While the company meetsthe female-founded criteria, its female founder departedthe company prior to several large VC rounds that skew deal Founders may include both active and former team me