In 2025, which locations see the highest and lowest amounts of funding allocation for female founding entrepreneurs?
In the dynamic world of startups, the representation of women in securing funding remains a significant issue. Here's a snapshot of the current landscape, based on data from PitchBook, across various regions.
Worldwide, all-male teams took home over $240 billion across 16,000 deals in 2024. In stark contrast, female-only founding teams secured a comparatively modest $6.7 billion across 580 deals during the same period.
The United States, a hub for startups, allocated only 2% of venture dollars to women-only teams in 2025. This figure is marginally better in New York, where women-only teams secured 3.1% of venture dollars. However, in relative terms, cities like Nairobi, Bogotá, or Mexico City offer a slightly fairer chance in terms of funding.
In Europe, France had 3.9% of venture dollars going to women-only teams in 2025, while Germany followed closely with 1.9%. The UK and Brazil both had 3.2% and 3.3% of their startup funding going to women-only teams respectively.
Asia, too, shows a mixed picture. China, with state-backed diversity programs, reached 3.5% of its startup funding going to women-only teams. Singapore and Indonesia had 3.2% and 2.8% of their startup funding going to women-only teams respectively. Kenya, in Africa, funneled 7.9% of VC dollars to women-only teams in 2025.
However, India's startup scene, which raised $12.5 billion in 2024, saw only 2.6% of that going to women-only teams. In Africa as a whole, just 10% of venture dollars went to startups with a female founder in 2025.
Mexico and Colombia allocated 4.5% and 5.7% of their startup funding to women-only teams. Notably, the countries with the highest relative shares of investment in companies with female leadership are Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Sweden, with Latvia leading for years in terms of a particularly high proportion of female executives.
In the Middle East and North Africa, women secured only 1.2% of total VC dollars. This underscores the need for more inclusive investment practices in these regions.
A silver lining comes from the data showing that firms with at least 30% female partners invest 4.7× more in women-led startups. This suggests that a more balanced investment landscape could lead to increased support for women-led startups.
As we move forward, it's crucial to continue advocating for equal representation and funding in the startup world. The data shows that while progress is being made, there is still a long way to go.
