Charting female founders’ standout year for VC exits

On Feb 19, 2022

Female founders in the US tallied a record number of public listings and acquisitions in 2021, when exits were a huge part of the venture story.

The number of public listings with a female founder or co-founder more than doubled year-over-year to 48 in 2021, generating nearly $57 billion in exit value, according to PitchBook data. Acquisitions continued to be the most common exit type, realizing more than $9 billion for female founders.

Overall, venture-backed companies in the US showed exceptional signs of strength in 2021, generating more than $774 billion in exit value. Here’s a look at exit activity involving female founders and how the numbers line up against the overall exit boom in the venture ecosystem:

Healthcare and biotech IPOs took the lion’s share of exit deal value for companies founded by only female founders. Century Therapeutics, which uses adult stem cells to develop genetically engineered therapies to treat cancer, began trading on the Nasdaq in June. Other notable healthcare-focused IPOs of female-founded companies included Talaris Therapeutics and Femasys.

For more charts and fresh data, visit PitchBook’s Female Founders Dashboard, which is updated monthly.