Key Takeaways
- • US VC-backed female-founded companies raised a record $73.6 billion in 2025, even as the total deal count declined, according to PitchBook's 2025 All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem report.
- • Female founders captured 27.7 percent of total US VC deal value in 2025, an all-time high, with AI accounting for roughly two-thirds of VC dollars invested in female-founded startups.
- • Scale AI and Anthropic alone accounted for more than $30 billion of funding flowing to female-founded companies in the US.
- • European female-founded companies saw declining deal value and deal count in 2025 amid a pullback in megadeals, though median pre-money valuations rose.
- • Aggregate female-founded unicorn valuation reached a record $481 billion in the US, while European female-founded unicorn valuations also hit a record high.
Summary
PitchBook released its 2025 US and European editions of the All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem reports, analyzing venture capital activity for companies with at least one female founder. The findings point to a venture market defined by capital concentration, rising valuations for scaled companies, and a significant influence from artificial intelligence. Across both regions, deal counts declined as investors moved away from the rapid post-pandemic pace of investing and concentrated capital into fewer, more targeted rounds. Companies that did secure funding generally did so at higher valuations.
In the US, female founders captured record capital and an all-time high of total deal value, driven largely by AI megadeals and a reopening of exit markets, including increased IPO activity. Exit value more than doubled year-over-year, lifting female founders' share of total US exit count to 25 percent. Aggregate female-founded unicorn valuation reached a record $481 billion following a low in 2023. PitchBook noted that AI accounted for roughly two-thirds of VC dollars invested in female-founded startups.
Europe showed a different pattern. According to the report, European female-founded companies experienced declining deal value and count amid a continued pullback in megadeals, and their share of overall European VC deal activity trended downward year-over-year. Median pre-money valuations nonetheless rose across company cohorts, reflecting increased selectivity. Exit activity shifted toward fewer but larger outcomes, with total exit value rising despite lower transaction counts, and aggregate valuation for female-founded unicorns reached a record high.
Joanna McGinley, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives at PitchBook, said female founders are operating in a more selective and concentrated environment than in years, and that access to capital remains uneven. Annemarie Donegan, Senior Research Analyst at PitchBook, said the open question is whether the momentum seen in 2025 reflects a more durable market reset or continued concentration among a narrow group of megadeals.
In the US, female founders captured record capital and an all-time high of total deal value, driven largely by AI megadeals and a reopening of exit markets, including increased IPO activity. Exit value more than doubled year-over-year, lifting female founders' share of total US exit count to 25 percent. Aggregate female-founded unicorn valuation reached a record $481 billion following a low in 2023. PitchBook noted that AI accounted for roughly two-thirds of VC dollars invested in female-founded startups.
Europe showed a different pattern. According to the report, European female-founded companies experienced declining deal value and count amid a continued pullback in megadeals, and their share of overall European VC deal activity trended downward year-over-year. Median pre-money valuations nonetheless rose across company cohorts, reflecting increased selectivity. Exit activity shifted toward fewer but larger outcomes, with total exit value rising despite lower transaction counts, and aggregate valuation for female-founded unicorns reached a record high.
Joanna McGinley, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives at PitchBook, said female founders are operating in a more selective and concentrated environment than in years, and that access to capital remains uneven. Annemarie Donegan, Senior Research Analyst at PitchBook, said the open question is whether the momentum seen in 2025 reflects a more durable market reset or continued concentration among a narrow group of megadeals.
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