2023 Reflections

Empowering Change: Women Founders Amidst Funding Challenges in 2023

As we usher in a new year, it's imperative to take stock of the progress and challenges faced by women founders in the ever-evolving entrepreneurial landscape. ?

As we reflect on the state of women founders in 2023, recent data from Carta sheds light on the challenges they are facing in the ever-evolving landscape of venture capital. The pulse of the funding market, as captured by Carta's anonymized data from tens of thousands of startups, reveals a stark reality: the decline in venture capital investment is impacting women founders disproportionately. ?

1. Funding Landscape: A Struggle for Equality: Venture capital investment has faced a sharp decline, reaching the lowest quarterly tally in years at $11.9 billion. Amid this pullback, women founders are grappling with a scarcity of capital. According to Carta's data, women-only teams secured a mere 2.8% of all venture funding in 2023, marking the lowest tally in the past four years. ?

This disparity persists across funding stages, with a pronounced worsening as companies scale up. While women-only teams pulled in 5.6% of capital in priced seed rounds, the share steadily decreases to 1.6% at the series C. The report underscores a continued pipeline problem, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to support women-led ventures. ?

2. A Perfect Storm for Female Founders: "We're in the middle of a perfect storm for female founders," notes Katie Stanton, founder and general partner of Moxxie Ventures. Unconscious bias during a venture pullback is a significant challenge, compounded by factors such as a lack of affordable child care, shortage of female technical founders, and the closure of investment shops focused on backing female founders. ?

3. The Gender Gap Widens: Launching and Scaling: The impact is not limited to funding alone. The sparse flow of funds is casting a shadow on the startup scene, with women-led startups facing a decline not only in funding share but also in the number of companies launched. In 2023, 87% of newly incorporated companies had male founders, marking the highest rate in the last six years. The proportion of women founders of newly sprouted companies fell to 13% from 15% last year. ?

4. Collaboration and Spotlighting Talent: Despite these challenges, collaboration and spotlighting talent remain crucial. Teams with women and men founders fared better, raising 20% of all funding in 2023, emphasizing the value of diverse teams.

As we navigate these challenges, let's collectively work towards a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. The industry must spotlight and fund the brilliant and talented female founders who deserve venture capital backing. Together, we can break barriers and foster an environment where every entrepreneur has an equal opportunity to thrive. ?

Here's to a more inclusive and innovative year ahead!

(NOTE: Data taken from Business Insider's article, "Venture capital's steep decline is leaving female startup founders in the cold, new data shows."?Image c/o Carta)

A Big Thank You!

We could not have had such an awesome year without the help of our sponsors, partners, and speakers.

A big thank you to all of you, here goes!?

• CIBC Innovation and Brittany Blanco , our Title sponsor
• RestartUtah , for supporting our Startup Lounge for Female Founders
• Kiln Boulder & Kiln Salt Lake City, our event venue partner
• Techstars Boulder , for supporting our Boulder event
• Matt Zweibel from Drive Capital
• Maggie Rodney from Massive
• Cristina Poindexter from Parable
• Kristin Langenfeld from GoodBuy Gear
• Niki Sawni & Grüvi , for supporting our Boulder event
• Chelsea Lamego from FundMiner
• Jessa Lux x from Ride iQ
• Jenna Sereni from HandsDown
• Morgan Williams Brown from Blendyd Studios
• Noella Sudbury from Rasa Legal
• Kristy Muir from Pelion Venture Partners
• Taylor Jones from Peterson Ventures

And so many others! Thank you for helping us continue our mission of championing women in entrepreneurship and venture capital.

100 Companies Championing Women in Utah - W Collective

We can't close out this year without taking a moment to share our gratitude about W Collective being recognized as one of the inaugural companies of 100 Companies Championing Women in Utah. This initiative was launched as a collaboration between Utah's Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity and Utah Women & Leadership Project.

This past August, all the inaugural 100 companies were invited by Governor Spencer Cox?to a luncheon at the Grand America. It was amazing to be in a room full of all these incredible companies leading the way for women in Utah.

To learn more about the initiative, click here.

Final Thoughts for 2023

"Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes." – Nancy Pelosi,?52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.

Once again, thank you to everyone who supported the W Collective in 2023. Until next year!