Since the beginning of the third quarter this month, women founders across the United States have raised a significant amount of capital—higher than quarters in the recent past.
This is according to data from Pitchbook. The numbers are supported by recent rounds closed by five companies founded and owned by women.
Since the beginning of July, 4.6 percent of VC funding has gone to women-founded startups. This is up from 2.9 percent in Q2 and 2 percent in 2017.
And businesses with at least one woman in the founding team have raised around 29 percent of all U.S. venture funding this quarter. This is almost twice that of 2017 and up from 14 percent last quarter.
Here’s a summary of recent the fund raises Pitchbook cites:
- DNA genetic testing company 23andMe, founded by Anne Wojcicki, Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza, landed a $300 million equity investment from GlaxoSmithKline.
- Ecommerce consignment shop TheRealReal, founded by Julie Wainright, announced Wednesday that it had raised $115 million Series G funding. The round is led by PWP Growth Equity. This boosts the company’s value from $450 million last year to $745 million this month.
- Subscription fitness class platform ClassPass, founded by Payal Kadakia, closed an $85 million Series D round led by Tamasek. The company is now valued at $610 million as its total equity ups to over $250 million.
- Colorado-based Guild Education, a company founded by Rachel Romer Carlson and Brittany Stitch that offers education as a benefit to working adults, announced a $40 million round yesterday. The company has raised just over $70 million in venture capital funding total.
- Digital media firm Blavity, led by Founder and CEO Morgan DeBaun, announced a $6.5 million Series A from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and other investors last week. This totals its funding to just over $9 million.
Overeall, 2018 is shaping up as a good year for women in VC. Pitchbook reported last week that companies with at least one female founder have raised $7.2 billion in VC funding. That’s around 12 percent of all VC raised this year.
