Can data and technology eliminate gender bias in Venture Capital?
Yes, they can. And the data supports me.
As a female Principal at Connetic Ventures (www.connetic.ventures), an early-stage Venture Capital Firm, I am ashamed of the lack of funding that female (and minority founders) receive. If you are not aware, only 3% of venture capital in the U.S went to companies with a female CEO.
Despite female CEOs receiving much fewer VC investments than their male counterparts, the number of female-owned businesses has risen both in the U.S. and around the world. To gauge just how significant a gap VC funding is, I looked at a recent report that found that 42% of all businesses are female-led and owned.
So, using the number of female-led businesses as a barometer the amount of VC funding for women would need to increase 14x to reach equality.
No matter how you look at it, women (and minority founders) do not get a fair deal when pitching Venture Capital firms. This is due to a variety of factors, but the obvious is the inherent biases that humans have and the fact that 89% of VC decision-makers are male. It has even been well documented that VCs ask female founders substantially different questions when they are pitching.
