In 2026, women are investing their money—here’s how.
A new survey from How Women Invest polls 315 respondents based in the U.S. Amid an uncertain economy and a market where access to capital can be difficult for founders and VCs, this survey attempts to understand whether women investors are pulling back or not. The women surveyed are already investing in private markets, but are mostly not full-time VCs or LPs looking for a return on millions in capital; they’re writing their first checks as angels or otherwise dipping their toes into the water.
So this year, 67% of respondents say they plan to invest between $25,000 and $49,000 in venture opportunities; that’s also their comfortable check size. Twenty-two percent say they plan to invest $50,000 to $99,000 this year in private markets. Twenty-seven percent of women say they’ve made only one or two private investments so far.
Seventy-seven percent still say they want to invest with a values-based lens, and 58% with a gender lens.
Among this cohort of new investors, 27% allocate only 1-5% of their portfolios to private markets. Sixty-three percent say they seek guidance or fully rely on advisors when writing these kinds of checks.
How Women Invest argues that these stats show women are ready and willing to invest in startups and funds; they just need “credible on-ramps into private markets.” The founders and fund managers who can bridge that gap will have access to a growing source of capital—one that can be transformative on an individual level, even if it’s not the billion-dollar rounds that make headlines.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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PARTING WORDS
"We, as women’s basketball players, have been the first to do a lot of things for women in team sports. There’s so much history to consider, and I want to be a responsible steward. We are the blueprint in a lot of ways."
—Nneka Ogwumike, president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, who is guiding her fellow athletes through complex contract negotiations
