2021 Review of Funding for Female Founders

Female founders broke barriers across IPOs, growth rounds and acquisitions.

We are back again with our Annual Review of Funding for Female Founders in 2021. While VC funding to female founders continues to hover at a disappointing 2% overall, 2021 was a year to celebrate for female founders with watershed momentum across IPOs, exits and growth rounds.

Female Founders Fund launched in 2014 with a simple investment thesis: women will build the leading technology companies of tomorrow. Over the last eight years we have tracked the funding flows towards companies led by women across institutional rounds, with the goal of highlighting the growth and success of the female founder ecosystem. Both deal count and round size have seen exponential growth since the launch of this report in 2013.

Starting with overall funding, in 2021, 3,871 venture capital-funded deals for female-founded startups raised $54.6 billion in funding, according to Pitchbook, compared with $22.6 billion invested across 2,641 deals in 2020, which represents a 146% YoY increase from 2020. For reference when FFF began reporting on this data in 2013, only $6.8B was invested across 1,600 deals.

2021 also saw a 4x increase in the number of female-led companies reaching unicorn status compared to 2020. There was also a significant increase in M&A activity with sizable exits across industries like healthcare and software.

At the Series A level, female founders attracted larger institutional rounds than years past with investments in categories like digital health, cybersecurity and crypto. We believe this is due, in part, to the growing number of female check-writers, whose numbers reached new heights in 2021. In the report below, we will share the key areas of progress as well as areas of growth in the funding ecosystem.

Unicorns

In 2021, a record 595 companies joined the Crunchbase Unicorn Board, compared to the 167 unicorns minted in 2020. These unicorns are valued at $3.8T and have raised $682B over time.

Of 2021’s 595 unicorns, 83 were founded by women. 2021’s 83 female founded unicorns is more than 4x the 2020 count of female-led unicorns, which was 18. In the fall, Canva became the world’s most valuable woman-led startup at $40B. For reference in 2013 when FFF began reporting on this data there were only 4 female founded unicorns.

Notable unicorns of 2021 include:

• Papaya Global: a payroll and workforce management system, led by Eynat Guez, raised $440M at a $3.7B valuation
• BlockFi: a provider of loans backed by crypto assets, led by Flori Marquez, raised $350M at a $3B valuation
• Medable: a clinical research platform, led by Michelle Longmire, raised $507M at a $2.1B valuation
• Divvy Homes: a rent to own real estate platform, led by Adena Hefets, raised $370M at a $2B valuation
• Spring Health: a mental health solutions EAP, led by April Koh, raised $296M at a $2B valuation
• Modern Health: a mental health company, led by Alyson Watson, raised $74M at a $1.2B valuation
• Maven Clinic: a telemedicine-based virtual clinic for women’s and family health (and FFF portfolio company), led by Kate Ryder, raised $110M at a $1B valuation

Source: Crunchbase; aggregation and analysis: Female Founders Fund

IPOs

238 venture backed companies went public at $1B+ valuations in 2021 compared to 61 companies in 2020. Prior to this year there were only 20 companies taken public by women, in the thirty year history of the public markets.

2021 was a pivotal year with seven US based women-led companies going public as of December. These companies were diverse across industries including social, retail, healthcare and technology.

Notable US-based unicorn IPOs include:

• Vimeo: a video platform led by Anjali Sud, spun out of IAC at IPO at a $8.5B valuation
• Nextdoor: a social community led by Sarah Friar, raised $700M at IPO at a $4.3B valuation
• Clear: a biometric travel company led by Caryn Seidman-Becker, hit a $4.5B valuation in the its June IPO
• 23andMe: a DNA testing product led by Anne Wojcicki, raised $600M at IPO at a $3.5B valuation
• FIGS: a healthcare apparel company founded by Heather Hasson and Trina Spear, raised $581M in its IPO and has a current market cap of $2.8B
• Bumble: a dating app founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd, raised $2B in its February 2021 IPO during which time its valuation hit $13B
• Rent the Runway: an e-commerce platform (and FFF portfolio company) led by Jennifer Hyman, raised $400M at IPO at a $1.7B valuation

Growth Rounds

2021 also saw significant funding in growth rounds. $208B went into late-stage investment rounds in 2021, up 91% from 2020 and the largest figure we have seen to date. Of the $208B, nearly $35B went to female founded growth rounds, with late-deals representing the highest proportion of investments in female founders. Some of the largest growth rounds were in the digital health vertical across categories like addiction recovery, weight management, women’s health.

Notable female founded growth rounds include:

• Everlywell: an at-home health testing company, raised $75M in January 2021 following the close of its $175M December 2020 Series D Round at a $1.3B valuation which holds for the most recent financing
• Tala: an emerging market fintech founded by Shivani Siroya, raised a $145M Series E in October
• Workit Health: an online addiction recovery program provider, led by Lisa LcLaughlin and Robin McIntosh, raised a $118M Series C in October
• Calibrate: a weight management platform, led by Isabelle Kenyon, raised a $110M Series B in August
• Woebot Health: an AI-powered cognitive behavioral therapy chatbot, led by Alison Darcy, raised a $100M Series C in July 2021
• Tia: a women’s health advisory platform, led by Carolyn Witte and Felicity Yost, raised a $100M Series B in August
• Daily Harvest: a subscription-based frozen meal delivery service, led by Rachel Drori, raised a $100M Series D in November
• Glossier: a manufacturer of beauty products, led by Emily Weiss, raised an $80M Series E in July.
• Thrive Global: a behavior change technology company (and FFF portfolio company) founded by Arianna Huffington, raised an $80 million Series C in July 2021 co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Owl Ventures
• Kindbody, a holistic health and fertility services provider, led by Anneth Eschbach and Gina Bartasi, raised a $62M Series C in June.

Funding for Female Founded Companies — By Stage

Series A

2021 saw a massive increase in both deal count and round size for female founded series A raises. In the US, 279 female founded startups raised series A rounds in 2021 compared to just 115 in 2020, according to Crunchbase data. For reference, only 20–30% of companies that raise a seed round go on to raise a series A round.

New York saw similarly significant year over year increases, with 46 female founded startups raising Series A rounds in 2021, up from 26 in 2020. In 2021 the average Series A round size for female-founded companies was $14.2M vs just $9.2M in 2020 and $6.5M in 2010. This year, the largest series A investments were made across healthtech, cyber security, and crypto.

Notable Series A rounds include:

• Seed Health: a microbial sciences company, raised $40 in a round led by The Craftory
• Stork Club: a maternity care platform, raised $30M in a round led by General Catalyst
• Iron Fish: a novel cryptocurrency focused on privacy and accessibility, raised $27.6M in a round led by Sequoia Capital
• Co–Star: an astrology app (and FFF portfolio company), raised $15M in a round led by Spark Capital
• Oula: a modern maternity center (and FFF portfolio company), raised $15M in a round led by 8VC

Exits

Alongside the growth in overall funding, 2021 also saw increased exit activity. $774B in annual exit value was created by VC-backed companies that were acquired or went public, with acquisitions being the most common exit type. Across the VC ecosystem, 141 companies exited, compared to 58 in 2020. According to Pitchbook, as of 3Q 2021 nearly $59B in exit value was generated by female founded companies, 143.6% higher than 2020’s level, while the overall market is up 101.5%.

Notable female founded exits include:

• Spanx, Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Spanx, founded by Sara Blakely, valuing the company at $1.2B
• Hello Sunshine, Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Hello Sunshine, founded by Reese Witherspoon, for $900M
• Billie, Edgewell acquired, Billie co-founded by Georgie Gooley, for $310M
• Modern Fertility: Ro acquired Modern Fertility, founded by Afton Verchery & Carly Leahy for $225M
• Convey; Project44 acquired Convey, a supply chain management software, led by Jenny Bebout, for $255M
• NuOrder: Lightspeed POS acquired NuOrder, a wholesale e-commerce platform, led by Natalie Massenet for $385M

Healthcare

Across IPOs, growth rounds and M&A, 2021 was the year of female founded digital health companies. With women being the primary decision-makers in healthcare choices for both herself and her family, they control over $2T of spend annually. There is an inherent advantage to women building in healthcare in categories like chronic disease, women’s health, addiction and more. In 2021 alone, multiple examples of fast growing female-led digital health companies include:

• 23 andMe: a genetic testing company, founded by Anne Wojcicki, that went public via a SPAC valuing the company at $3.6B
• Spring Health: a mental health platform, led by April Koh, raised $190M at a $1.9B valuation
• Modern Health: a mental health benefits platform, founded by Alyson Friedensohn, raised a $74M Series D valuing the company at $1.2B
• Maven Clinic: a telemedicine-based virtual clinic for women’s and family health (and FFF portfolio company), led by Kate Ryder, raised $110M at a $1B valuation
• Kindbody: a fertility company, founded by Gina Bartasi raised a $62M Series C, valuing the company at $612M

Across institutional funding starting at the Series A, it is clear that women have taken a lead in digital health innovation.

Final Thoughts

2021 was a record setting year for female entrepreneurs and a powerful comeback from the numerous setbacks endured in 2020 (as it relates to IPOs, growth rounds and exits). In 2021 female founded companies raised nearly $55B across 3,871 deals, more than doubling the amount of total capital invested year over year.

As we move into 2022, we are optimistic about the future of female founded startups. We expect the female founded strength in healthcare and cybersecurity to continue, accompanied by a boom in workplace efficiency and the creator economy as web3 presents new opportunities for innovation.

There has also been exciting growth in the number of women in check-writing positions. At the end of 2019, 12% of General Partners at Venture Capital firms were women and there were 740 female angel investors. Today, women make up 15% of GPs at VC firms, and there are now about 1,000 female angel investors.

The growing female representation in investment roles across funds at every stage (up 3.5% since 2019, with women now holding 15.4% of GP positions) is encouraging. Women investors are up to 3x more likely to fund women founders.

While it is disappointing that the percentage of funding to female founders continues to hover around 2%, with the growth in female check writers, we believe that the volume of funding for female founders will reach new heights in coming years. In addition, with so many success stories of late, we have seen top tier venture capital funds embrace a renewed focus on investing in diverse founders with the recognition that there are real return opportunities.

We started tracking the progress of female founders in 2013 with the belief that investing in women would produce outsized returns. It has been incredible to see the success of female founders across many areas, and the 2021 exit momentum has validated our thesis. We are thrilled to be able to continue working alongside women to build the companies of tomorrow as well as partnering with the broader VC ecosystem to ensure more diversity at all levels.