Venture Capital Boost for Female Founders in AI 2023

In 2023, the proportion of U.S. venture capital funding directed to startups with at least one female founder increased to 25%, totaling $34.7 billion, up from 15% in 2022. This notable rise was driven by significant investments in AI startups, with prominent examples including OpenAI, which raised $10 billion, and Anthropic, which secured over $6.5 billion across multiple rounds. The AI sector received over half of its U.S. investments, amounting to $21 billion, in companies with female founders, although this figure was influenced by a few large deals. Among other AI unicorns receiving significant funding were Adept AI, Replit, and Imbue, all led by female founders. Steady progress has been made, and early-stage and seed funding rounds show higher participation of female founders. Despite the positive trend, female-only founded companies have remained flat at 3% in funding year-over-year, with female/male co-founded companies seeing a rise in 2023. Since 2021, annual investments in female-founded companies in the U.S. have consistently exceeded $30 billion, with a noticeable increase in late-stage deal counts.

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