Last fall, in partnership with Mayfield and Melinda Gates’s Pivotal Ventures, Microsoft Venture Fund launched the second Female Founders Competition
Awarding $6M from Microsoft Venture Fund to four women-led companies building enterprise software and deep-tech solutions.
By Tamara Steffens for M12
“While the data has been refreshed with a new calendar year, all-female founding teams earned just 2.8% of venture capital invested in the US in 2019. With more attention, the trends are slowly changing; from 2018 to 2019, an incremental $300 million in funding was deployed to exclusively female-founded startups. The increase is encouraging, but the pace of change must quicken.
Aspiring to build a more inclusive dealflow pipeline, we’re examining some of the deeply entrenched systems that predetermine the types of founders we see most frequently. A more holistic sourcing strategy is critical, and support for the entire pipeline of female founders is required. But in parallel, building on the success of our inaugural Female Founders Competition was an important next step to reinforce our commitment and identify the next wave of leading female founders.
Today, we’re proud to announce the winners of our second Female Founders Competition. Scroll on for the stories behind their startups, and help us amplify their advice for other female founders.
Deeptech — Global Winners : iLoF — Oxford, UK
Deeptech — US Winners : Huue — San Francisco, CA
Enterprise Software — Global Winners : Deployed — London, UK
Enterprise Software — US Winners : Webee — Sunnyvale, CA
We’re thrilled to welcome these four startups to our respective portfolios and look forward to supporting them throughout their growth.
Thank you to our investment partners — Mayfield and Pivotal Ventures — for your support in helping to realize this competition. The past several months have required a new level of agility and flexibility to hear pitches and stay coordinated outside of an in-person, conference room context; I’m proud that we were able to deliver on our commitment to provide incredible founders with access to capital.”