Cybersecurity
At Top VC Firms, More Women Partners Doesn’t Mean More Women Funded
A Bloomberg analysis shows firms with female senior investing partners were not more likely to invest in companies founded by women
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Raising her first major funding round for her then three-year-old shipping and data company last year, Shippo Chief Executive Officer Laura Behrens Wu came to an uncomfortable realization: pitching any of Silicon Valley’s rare female venture capitalists gave her more anxiety than pitching men.
“They do harder due diligence, making sure they’re not going to embarrass themselves,” Behrens Wu recalled. “Maybe they have a chip on their shoulders?” she asked. “I empathize with women VCs, in an environment where they’re constantly trying to prove themselves.”