The Female-Founded Companies That Get Funded (Infographic)

In 2016, only 16 percent of funded startups were led by female founders.

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By Rose Leadem

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While more and more women are becoming founders and CEO, we still have a ways to go for gender parity in business.

Related: 12 Female Founders Who Will Restore Your Faith in Feminism

In 2016, approximately 3,033 U.S.-based companies secured funding (seed, series A and series B). Unfortunately, only 16 percent of these companies had at least one female founder. Not only that, but only 8 percent had a female founder and a female CEO. By researching funding and its relationship to female founders, online graphic design marketplace 99designs sought to uncover where these female-founded companies are located, what they do and more.

Unsurprisingly, 51 percent of the companies funded in 2016 that had a female founder also had a female CEO. A majority (38 percent) of these female-led companies are in the Bay Area. The next big cities you can find these female-led companies are New York (22 percent), Los Angeles (7 percent), Chicago (5 percent) and Boston (4 percent).

Related: 10 Signs Your Startup Won't Get Funded

What exactly do these companies do? Turns out, most female-led companies are in the healthcare industry. The next top popular industries are commerce, software and biotech.

To learn more about funded women-founded companies, check out the infographic below.

Rose Leadem
Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

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