It's not surprising in the least that female founders and minority founders are grossly overlooked, but these number paint a very dark picture of the reality of funding allocation.  This is downright shameful. 

(Article from Abigail Rubenstein of https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/vcs-women-black-latinx-and-lgbtq-founders/ )

It’s no secret that the venture capital world has a diversity problem. The numbers are striking: 76% of VC partners are white men. As of 2021, women accounted for just 5% of partners in VC firms, while 1% of partners identified themselves as Black and even fewer as Latino.   

And the problem isn’t just who’s in the room. It’s who’s getting funding, too. Although many prominent venture capital firms publicly pledged to diversify the founders in their portfolios in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd shined a national spotlight on racism in the U.S., most venture capital funding is still flowing to white, male founder teams (Asian founders took in the next most cash, but they’re still getting much less).     

The overall amount of cash given to companies with women and minority founders rose in 2021, but their overall portion of the funds doled out remained strikingly small. Companies founded solely by women scored just 2% of VC funding. Meanwhile, Black founders got just 1.4% of venture funding (Black women in particular received a mere 0.27% of all venture dollars) and U.S.-based Latino founders also received 2%   

This isn’t because white men are more interested in starting their own companies. It tends to be an issue of access. 

“There is no pipeline problem,” Janine Sickmeyer, a founding partner in Overlooked Ventures, told us. “The people are there. The opportunities are there.” 

Perhaps this is unsurprising given that the system is largely set up to benefit those who already have money and connections. But in failing to fund businesses led by women and founders who belong to minority groups, VCs aren’t just perpetuating inequality, they’re leaving money on the table.

#investors #VC #vcfunding #minorityfounders @womenfounders 