Women entrepreneurs fuel U.S. economic growth, with female founders starting 49 percent of new businesses in 2021. Yet despite their impact on economic growth, only two percent of female founders received funding out of $330 billion in VC dollars deployed in that same year. That’s only one in every 50 venture dollars that goes to women entrepreneurs—often less than that for people of color and LGBTQ founders.
This is a unique moment to acknowledge this gap and see it as an opportunity to create connections and boost female tech founders further than ever before.
Venture Atlanta is committed to encouraging the flow of capital to talented women founders. We want more women founders to apply for funding and more women-led startups to get the spotlight they deserve.
Venture Atlanta Doesn’t Just Talk the Talk — We Walk the Walk
It’s no surprise that our diversity panel in 2020 was one of the most popular in Venture Atlanta history. There is still a big capital gap, and we want Venture Atlanta to help level the playing field while supporting women entrepreneurs. Here’s how we’re doing it:
Partnering With Organizations Across the Southeast That Support, Develop, and Showcase Female Founders
We partner with Vaxa Factor, an organization dedicated to helping women CEOs grow and scale, and Zane Access, the nonprofit arm of the Zane Venture Fund that equips diverse, underrepresented founders with the knowledge to seek funding.
Simply by getting more women founders on stage, in the workshops, and at related events, will help get them in front of more investors.
Serving as the Connection Point for the Annual Women’s Investor Breakfast
For the past several years, day two of our conference has kicked off with the Women’s Investor Breakfast — hosted by Kim Seals, The JumpFund, Christy Brown, and Build in SE and sponsored Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. We’re proud to share that over the past four years, this event grew from 13 attendees to 60+ in 2022.
Leveraging the Expertise and Networks of Venture Atlanta’s Female Board Members
The Venture Atlanta 2022 Board of Directors brings impressive expertise, diversity, and credentials.
- Allyson Eman, CEO, Venture Atlanta
- Jackie DiMonte, Partner, Chicago Ventures
- Elizabeth Stephens, NMP Vice President
- Vanessa Larco, Partner, New Enterprise Associates
- Kim Seals, General Partner, The JumpFund
- Loretta Daniels, Director of Bridge Builders Program, Technology Association of Georgia
Featuring Successful Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Tech, and Women Leaders as Keynote Speakers
Venture Atlanta offers investors more connections to women founders than any other venture event. It’s one of the largest venture conferences in the country, with over 1,300 annual attendees, 450 funds, $7.5B in capital raised, and $17B in successful exits.
We put the spotlight on successful women founders, not just through women entrepreneurs networking but also through sharing learnings and opportunities with our keynote speakers. Together, we’re supporting women entrepreneurs on stage every chance we get.
Past keynote speakers have included:
- Duriya Farooqui, Board Director for Intercontinental Exchange and New York Stock Exchange
- Lori Greiner, Shark Tank Shark, Investor, and Serial Entrepreneur
- Arlan Hamilton, Founder and Managing Partner, Backstage Capital
- Arianna Huffington, Founder of the Huffington Post and Thrive Global
- Lauren Kolodny, Founding Partner, Acrew Capital
- Aileen Lee, Founder, Cowboy Ventures
- Phyllis Newhouse, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor
- Nicole North, Talent Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Jewel Burks Solomon, Head of Google for Startups in the U.S.
- Melissa Taunton, Partner at NEA
Connect With Other Women Entrepreneurs at Venture Atlanta
“Made lots of connections and witnessed many moments of inspiration and celebration at Venture Atlanta! As I reflect a bit on my experience, the thing that stands out most is the women. We all know…. Venture capital and the tech world is traditionally men, white men at that. But I felt the power of women everywhere. – Tamara Lucas, CEO & Co-Founder at My Panda
“How do female founders get funded? Venture Atlanta Conference! What an experience! 24 meetings and am already following up with quite a few funds.” – Jacqueline Darna, CEO/founder Intellidoc & Medical Inventor of NoMo Bands
“Innovation Week in Atlanta was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had in my career.
At the Venture Atlanta Conference since the first day I met incredible people, I learned a lot about the entrepreneurial culture in this wonderful state.” – Karen D, Co-founder-Shareholder & CEO at BotOn & Dynamo Smart Solutions
One of our priorities at Venture Atlanta is to provide more opportunities, networking, and partnerships to support women tech founders to close the funding disparity gap. Let’s continue this incredible momentum.
If you’re a female founder, we encourage you to attend our conference, and you’ll see first-hand the strong community of women entrepreneurs we’ve gathered over the years. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to stay up-to-date on announcements about our 2023 conference!
If you’re an organization in the Southeast that supports female founders and want to be involved with VA, please reach out! We’d love to get in touch and discuss partnership options.
