• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MPWMost Powerful Women

Female Founders Got 2% of Venture Capital Dollars in 2017

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 31, 2018, 7:30 AM ET

Things are changing for women in the startup and venture capital world. Last year, a handful of them came forward to share their stories of facing sexual harassment and discrimination—and a number of the industry’s powerful men, including Binary Capital co-founder Justin Caldbeck, 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, and former Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson—lost their jobs as a result.

But while the #MeToo movement may be altering some aspects of the VC landscape, it hasn’t yet translated into many more dollars for female founders. All-women teams received just $1.9 billion of the $85 billion total invested by venture capitalists last year, according to data on the from M&A, private equity, and VC database PitchBook. That’s equal to about 2.2% of 2017’s total pot. Meanwhile, all-male teams received about $66.9 billion—roughly 79%. (Of the remaining 19%, 12% of funds were raised by mixed-gender teams, while 7% was raised by teams whose gender makeup PitchBook was unable to confirm.)

The size of the gap is staggering, but there is a sliver of a silver lining: It’s smaller than last year’s. In 2016, female founders raised just $1.4 billion—or 1.9% of total VC funding. In fact, with the exception of 2014, 2017 marks the largest percentage of total venture dollars that has gone to female founders since PitchBook started tracking the data in 2006.

In terms of deal count, women-founded companies set a record last year, making up 4.4% of all VC deals—the largest percentage since 2006. Of course, the actual number of deals involving female-led startups still dismally low (368 compared to 5,588 for all-male teams), and the gap between the percentage of deals and percentage of dollars that go to women hints at the fact that VCs are writing smaller checks for female founders. The average deal size for a woman-led company in 2017 was just over $5 million. For a man-led company, that number is a little less than $12 million.

Consider the 10 biggest deals raised by female founders compared to the 10 biggest rounds landed by men. While the largest round invested in a woman-led startup was $165 million (Moda Operandi’s Series G), the largest that went to a male-led company (WeWork, also a Series G) was $3 billion. And the co-working space is not an outlier. Even the tenth-largest deal on the list comes in at half a billion dollars, or more than four times larger than the largest round raised by a women-led company.

Subscribe to The Broadsheet, Fortune‘s daily newsletter for and about the most powerful women in business.

This is Fortune‘s second examination of the gender gap in venture capital funding. The version of the story we wrote last year explores the reasons behind this gap. While there is no single definitive answer, female founders point to the lack of female VCs (about 8% of partners at top VC firms are women), the idea that women typically “ask for less” than men do, and the research that suggests that women tend to be judged on performance and men on potential—giving men a leg up when it comes to raising funds.

Last year, Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake said she saw the lack of easy cash as a positive thing, telling Fortune that as a result, she had had to figure out “how the business is going to be healthy and how the business is going to be sustainable.” In her case, at least, it seems to be working out: At the end of 2017, Lake led her clothing subscription service through a billion-dollar IPO.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

takaichi
Arts & EntertainmentJapan
Japan’s Prime Minister welcomes Deep Purple, capping 50-year love affair with heavy metal: ‘You’re my god’
By Mari Yamaguchi and The Associated PressApril 10, 2026
1 day ago
Eva Longoria secretly worked as a headhunter from her soap opera dressing room for three years—because she refused to be a ‘struggling actor’
SuccessThe Promotion Playbook
Eva Longoria secretly worked as a headhunter from her soap opera dressing room for three years—because she refused to be a ‘struggling actor’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleApril 10, 2026
2 days ago
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives are gaining and losing power
C-SuiteFortune 500 Power Moves
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives are gaining and losing power
By Fortune EditorsApril 3, 2026
8 days ago
The short, uneasy tenure of Pam Bondi
NewslettersMPW Daily
The short, uneasy tenure of Pam Bondi
By Emma HinchliffeApril 3, 2026
8 days ago
Olympic champion Eileen Gu’s advice for women seeking her heights of career success: Don’t be a small fish in a big pond, ‘Create your own pond’
MPWMost Powerful Women
Olympic champion Eileen Gu’s advice for women seeking her heights of career success: Don’t be a small fish in a big pond, ‘Create your own pond’
By Emma HinchliffeMarch 31, 2026
11 days ago
Can Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In take on tradwives and the manosphere?
NewslettersMPW Daily
Can Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In take on tradwives and the manosphere?
By Emma HinchliffeMarch 27, 2026
15 days ago

Most Popular

Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
Success
Scottie Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in golf's $100M club—and donated his entire Ryder Cup stipend to charity
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
1 day ago
The Navy confirmed an ‘abundant amount’ of Uncrustables when the Artemis II crew lands. Smucker’s just offered them a lifetime supply
Politics
The Navy confirmed an ‘abundant amount’ of Uncrustables when the Artemis II crew lands. Smucker’s just offered them a lifetime supply
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
22 hours ago
The 'affordability economy' has created a housing market nobody predicted: Prices collapsing in the Sun Belt, soaring in the Rust Belt
Real Estate
The 'affordability economy' has created a housing market nobody predicted: Prices collapsing in the Sun Belt, soaring in the Rust Belt
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
12 hours ago
Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: 'I don't regret selling. I regret who I sold to'
Investing
Mark Cuban admits he made a mistake letting go of the Mavericks: 'I don't regret selling. I regret who I sold to'
By Fortune EditorsApril 9, 2026
2 days ago
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
Innovation
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
By Fortune EditorsApril 10, 2026
2 days ago
Warren Buffett says 'accumulating great amounts of money' doesn’t achieve greatness—He still lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home and clipped coupons
Success
Warren Buffett says 'accumulating great amounts of money' doesn’t achieve greatness—He still lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home and clipped coupons
By Fortune EditorsApril 11, 2026
9 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.