Last year just 2% of venture capital dollars went toward startups founded by women. So perhaps it comes as no surprise that women comprise just 9% of the decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms, according to a new Axios analysis based on Pitchbook data. (Axios only looked at VC firms that had raised a minimum of one fund of at least $100 million from 2013 to 2017.) In absolute terms, the numbers are even more stark: There are only 91 women, nationwide, with sway over how VC firms write checks.
Believe it or not, those numbers represent a marked improvement. At this time last year, only 7% of decision-makers were women; in 2016, it was just 5.7%.
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