AI is crowding out female founders: Startups with at least one female founder accounted for just 21.7% of combined value of VC investments in the US throughout 2024 — the lowest rate since 2017 — as VC funds shift their focus to AI startups, according to Pitchbook. Last year’s reversal threatens to roll back some of the gains seen in terms of female representation over the past few years.

By the numbers: Female-founded startups collectively raised USD 45.3 bn in 2024, up almost 12% y-o-y. However, Anthropic — co-founded by Daniela Amodei — accounted for USD 9.2 bn of this total. Excluding Anthropic, funding for female-founded startups drops to USD 36.1 bn, out of combined value of investments at USD 209 bn. Anthropic barely makes the cut, as Amodei is the only female among seven co-founders.

Early-stage startup funding also saw a decline: Out of more than 3.1k first financings in 2024, only 20.5% involved a female co-founder, down from 26.5% in 2020. This is particularly concerning as early-stage funding is historically more equitable and has a higher number of female investors, according to Pitchbook.

Funds targeting female founders are also “scaling back size or struggling,” further narrowing prospects for female-led startups, GP at The Artemis Fund Diana Murakhovskaya said. The closure of global nonprofit Girls in Tech after 17 years in business, and the legal block enforced on US-based Fearless Fund’s grants for Black female-owned businesses, are some of the most recent indications of dwindling resources for female entrepreneurs.

Bias is bad for everyone: Lack of diversity in VC decision-making teams leads to “market blind spots” and missed prospects, Pitchbook argues. The imbalance also risks embedding systemic gender inequities into AI systems, as they will be developed mainly by male-founded ventures.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed this morning, as investors analyze Trump’s comments on China tariffs starting February. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.5%, while Hang Seng (Hong Kong) declined 1.4%, and Shanghai Composite declined 1.0%. Wall Street futures are in the green following strong gains for the S&P 500 in the first trading day after Trump’s inauguration.

ADX

9517

+0.1% (YTD: +1.0%)

DFM

5220

+0.5% (YTD: +1.2%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

4303

+0.7% (YTD: +3.4%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

4.1% o/n

4.4% 1 yr

TASI

12,370

-0.1% (YTD: +2.8%)

EGX30

29,827

+0.7% (YTD: +0.3%)

S&P 500

6049

+0.9% (YTD: +2.9%)

FTSE 100

8548

+0.3% (YTD: +4.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5166

+0.03% (YTD: +5.5%)

Brent crude

USD 79.29

-1.1%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.76

-4.9%

Gold

USD 2759.20

+0.4%

BTC

USD 106,465.40

+3.8% (YTD: +13.9%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM rose 0.5% yesterday on turnover of AED 765.2 mn. The index is up 1.2% YTD.

In the green: Al Salam Sudan (+12.1%), Chimera S&P UAE UCITS ETF (+2.7%) and Emaar Development (+2.2%).

In the red: National International Holding Company (-10.0%), Sukoon Insurance (-8.9%) and National Industries Group Holding (-6.1%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 0.1% on turnover of AED 1.2 bn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai rose 0.7%.

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