Tech companies attempting to address their diversity issues should should take note of Brooklyn, the city leading the country in female entrepreneurship. Crunchbase recently published an analysis tracking the gender of founders whose start-ups received an initial round of funding between 2009 and 2014. And New York City — particularly Brooklyn — is leading the way:
New York City, on the other hand, has produced the largest number of companies with a female founder: 374, or 21% of all startups. It turns out that the Big Apple beats out San Francisco (338 startups and 16%) on both fronts. And while we are on the subject of New York City, it’s worth noting that Brooklyn, considered on its own, is the national frontrunner with 28% of startups, 33 in total, reporting at least one woman founder.
The sad news is that 21% is considered high; by 2014, only 18% of funded start-ups nationwide were established by women (and that’s up from 9% in 2009). But on the bright side, at least more women are getting funded now than ever before, eh?
Fortune reports on the findings, interviewing head of Brooklyn’s Entrepreneurs’ Organization chapter Lexy Funk, who also founded Brooklyn Industries. According to her, “There is no sense here of an old boys network that you feel excluded from.”
“It doesn’t feel clubby, but artistic and creative, and there is a lot of support and openness,” she explains.
Toymail co-founder Gauri Nanda agrees. “There aren’t institutions or giant corporations that dominate,” she said. “The culture is really in its nascent stages, so there is an opportunity to be a part of that, and the tech community is small and very supportive, and doesn’t feel competitive.”
(Photo: Paul Stein)
