We often hear the statistic, "2% of venture capital goes to female founders".
But that generally refers to female-only founding teams, which is of course a slightly different thing. Many more startup founding teams are mixed gender these days.
So - is looking at the metrics through the lens of the CEO gender more useful?
In our 2024 Annual Equity Report, we do just that. And as is clear in the graph above, there is a sizable gap across most venture stages between the valuations given to male and female CEOs.
The same is true for median cash raised, and for venture funding overall - about 90% of venture capital raised by Carta companies in 2024 went to startups with male CEOs.
Of course with only 14% of founders on Carta being women (a percentage that's held basically flat over the past half decade) perhaps the problem lies upstream of investment in many cases.
The full report broadens our view beyond CEOs—we dig into hiring by race and ethnicity, equity grants across functions and demographics, and funding to those groups from pre-seed through IPO.
This is our final piece of major research for the year, but I'll be back in your inboxes before Dec 31 to wrap things up and do some crystal ball predictions for 2025.
Happy holidays!
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Peter Walker
DISCLOSURE: This communication is on behalf of eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. ("Carta"). This communication is for informational purposes only, and contains general information only. Carta is not, by means of this communication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or interests, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. This communication is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Carta does not assume any liability for reliance on the information provided herein. © 2026 Carta. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.
