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This week Pitchbook released their 2020 edition of All In: Female Founders and CEOs in the US VC Ecosystem. The report builds upon what other outlets have discovered this fall as data roundups have begun: the onset of COVID corresponded with an abrupt drop in the funding of female-founded companies. Women have historically been underfunded, but this is a reversal in the, albeit slow, upward trajectory of female funding that we have all been striving for.
Pitchbook notes that in 2019, female-founded companies in the US closed more venture deals than ever before, totaling more than $20 billion across thousands of deals. This year, however, woman-founded companies have seen a disproportionate drop in capital invested, plummeting 31% so far in 2020 — a far more dire situation than the 17% drop seen across all US companies.
This report underscores the economic imperative of supporting women at every stage of the entrepreneurship journey, and especially at critical funding junctures. To get our country back on its feet, we are going to need every changemaker and we can’t do that without expanding access to VC funding for women.
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| Forbes’ annual The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list, released this week, serves as an influential roundup of changemakers across the world who are making history. From house-hold names to less-commonly known leaders, this list will leave you feeling inspired and ready to change the world. |
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| Moral Money: Next Generation |
| Financial Times’ Moral Money special edition highlights how the next generation is taking leadership in the financial world. One section that caught our eye focuses on millennials who see invested capital as a powerful force for change and believe it should go beyond a market rate return to deliver benefits to society. |
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| BlackRock to Push Companies on Racial Diversity in 2021 |
| As the world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock has the opportunity to influence widespread change next year as it asks its US companies to disclose the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of their employees as well as measures they’re taking to advance diversity and inclusion. |
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| INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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| The State of Black & Latinx Women Founders |
| If you haven’t yet, be sure to dive into digitalundivided’s ProjectDiane2020 report. It’s the first biennial demographic study that provides a snapshot of the state of Black and Latinx women founders, and the startups they lead, in the United States. |
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| Facebook Data Says the Pandemic Has Hit Women-Owned Businesses Harder |
| Facebook, in collaboration with OECD and the World Bank, surveyed more than 150,000 small and midsize businesses asking about business closures, workforce reductions, and government aid, as well as other topics. Responses show that women-led businesses were disproportionately hurt by the stifling effects of shutdowns, and more likely to close than those run by men. |
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| PayPal Processed $185 Million+ on Giving Tuesday |
| PayPal announced that it processed a record-breaking $185 million globally this Giving Tuesday. This figure is the largest amount raised on the platform for the global day of giving since its inception in 2012 and 40% increase in donations processed over 2019. |
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| There Are Fewer Than 100 Black Executives in Private Equity |
| Apollo Global Management Inc. found that among their 18,000 potential hires across the US, there were only about 95 Black professionals at the principal or director level. This discrepancy is not unique to Apollo and underlines the urgency of the entire industry to commit to concrete policies expanding diverse hiring, sponsorship and promotion. |
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