2024 WVS Impact Report

1 1 T H

A N N U A L

SEPTEMBER 25-27, 2024

2024 Impact Report

FUND

women CHANGE

d l r o w

THE

The 11th Annual Women's Venture Summit is an unmatched event that builds bridges between female founders and investors. The goals of the conference are to boost female founders' access to capital and to grow the number of investors who invest in female-led startups.

Individuals from across the globe meet in a vibrant and intimate conference setting to explore opportunities for increased funding and collaboration.

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Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS F U N D I N G F E AHERstory: R L EWhy SWe're S FHere UNDING F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2023 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

HER story

In recent years, venture capital (VC) funding for women-led startups has shown modest fluctuations, with some positive developments in 2024.

BY THE NUMBERS

2021 2.8%

Companies founded solely by women garnered 2.4% of the total capital invested, as reported by PitchBook.

2022 2.3%

2023

The share of VC funding for femalefounded startups remained low, with companies founded solely by women receiving just 2% of total capital invested in US venturebacked startups.

2.4%

Through September, VC funding to women-led startups slightly declined to 2.3%, per PitchBook data.

2024 2.3%

There was a significant increase, with women-led startups raising over $930 million across 136 deals—a 93.75% surge from the $480 million raised across 118 deals in 2023.

Despite this notable growth in 2024, the overall percentage of VC funding allocated to women-led startups remains disproportionately low compared to their male counterparts. Encouragingly, the rise in women-led venture capital firms is contributing to increased support for female entrepreneurs. In 2023, women-led VC firms raised a record $3.5 billion, up $500 million from 2022, accounting for roughly 3% of all venture funding raised that year. *INC42 While the surge in funding for women-led startups in 2024 is a positive development, sustained efforts are necessary to address the persistent gender disparities in venture capital funding.

4

Venture capital funding overall has surged in recent years, but the numbers haven't leapt forward for female founders at the same pace. *OUTLANDER

FEMALE (CO-)FOUNDED VC CAPITAL %

2% Still, only

of VC funding to solo female founders

Source: Pitchbook 2022 US VC female founders dashboard

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HER story

BY THE NUMBERS

Volume of VC funding raised by Black and Latina women-led companies from 2018 to 2019

Funding raised in billion U.S. dollars

(in billion U.S. dollars) 1.2

What about intersectionality?

Black and Latina women-founded companies have historically received a disproportionately small share of venture capital (VC) funding. In 2022, these companies secured only 0.85% of all venture capital, marking it the second-largest year for this cohort.

Despite this limited funding, diverse leadership teams have demonstrated superior financial performance. Companies with gender-diverse executive teams are 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability, and those with ethnic and cultural diversity in leadership are 36% more likely to outperform on profitability.

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

30% an average of

0.0

Black women-founded companies

Latinx women-founded companies Source: Statista

outperformance

6

In the third quarter of 2024, U.S. venture capital-backed companies raised approximately $37.5 billion, marking a 32% decline from the previous quarter. * *REUTERS

Despite the overall downturn, startups founded solely by women secured 2% of the total capital invested in U.S. venture-backed startups in 2023.* The time to exit for women-founded companies decreased to 6.6 years in 2021, while the average for all U.S. companies increased to 7.7 years.

Women now account for 15% of venture capital investors, with 12% serving as general partners as of 2019. ** Notably, female-founded venture capital firms have shown strong support for female entrepreneurs, with 28% of their investments directed toward startups with at least one female founder. *** *TWORLD ECONOMIC FORUM **PITCHBOOK EDITORIAL ***AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

7

Women founders receive only ~27% of angel funding (Pre-seed & Seed) and 2% of VC funding starting at Seed+ or Series A. Startups with at least one female founder go on to hire 2.5x more women than startups with all-male founders.

Women investors (angels and women VCs alike) are 2x as likely to invest in a women entrepreneur.* *KAUFMANN FOUNDATION

This is why WVS is important.

To bring female founders and investors together.

8

7

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F U Building N D Awareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2023 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

Press

COVERAGE

Televised segment Sept. 26, 2024

Website feature Sept. 27, 2024

Featured Stella's Founder and Chairwomen of the board, Silvia Mah, and Women’s Fast Pitch Finalists, Janice Williams Oliver, Founder and CEO MisTee Wants To Know, and Haley Marie Keith, Founder and CEO MITO Material Solutions.

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BROADCAST REACH

1M+

San Diego adults 18+ each week

She Owns It Meet Janice Williams Oliver, Founder of MisTee PRO RE

ACH

100K

Equities.com Women of Impact: Flossie Hall is on a mission to help women raise and deploy capital

RE

ACH

75K

Step by Step Business How MedAssent DDS Supports Dental Medication Management

RE

ACH

Forbes

EVenture:F Newsletter

KPBS Midday Edition Podcast

capturing history with Arian Simone and Elizabeth Gore.

Promoted Flossie’s podcast episode and Women’s Venture Summit in the weekly newsletter on Friday, September 13th

How pushback against DEI impacts businesses owned by women of color (also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

RE

ACH

RE

ACH

RE

ACH

50K

200K

10K

Authority Magazine

She Leads Podcast

KPBS Midday Edition Radio

Fox 5 San Diego

Pitching with Purpose: How to Craft a Winning Pitch Deck Story for Investors with Heather Lawver

How pushback against DEI impacts businesses owned by women of color

Women’s Venture Summit Fast Pitch

Flossie Hall of Stella Foundation On How We Should Increase Female Representation in Investment Decision-Making

RE

ACH

80K

RE

ACH

30K

RE

ACH

120K

150K

RE

ACH

1M+

11

BUILDING COMMUNITY IS

good WORK.

For the startup ecosystem, investors show up to build a conSTELLAtion with all stars, big and small, balls of energy to massive giants.

56% of NEW investors who are attending the Women's Venture Summit this year. WELCOME! We have 44% returning early-stage VCs and investor groups, thank you for returning to this exceptional experience. YOU ARE HOME! In 2022, the Women's Venture Summit attracted 74 VCs and angel groups to attend.

Our Stella Foundation team of AMAZING women succeeded in bringing 1.53x the amount of investors to the Women's Venture Summit in 2023.

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The values or goals of most pitch competitions are: 1. unleash potential 2. unlock opportunities 3. unveil access to capital to propel aspiring entrepreneurs toward success.

SILVIA’S

Newsletter SERIES

Building community is GOOD work. For the startup ecosystem, investors show up to build a conSTELLAtion with all stars, big and small, balls of energy to massive giants.

In 2024, the Women's Venture Summit attracted 100+ VCs and angel groups to attend.

Our Stella Foundation team of AMAZING women succeeded in bringing 1.53x the amount of investors to the Women's Venture Summit in 2023.

56% of NEW investors who are attending the Women's Venture Summit this year. WELCOME! We have 44% returning earlystage VCs and investor groups, thank you for returning to this exceptional experience. YOU ARE HOME!

The values or goals of most pitch competitions are: 1. unleash potential 2. unlock opportunities 3. unveil access to capital to propel aspiring entrepreneurs toward success.

13

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS F U N D I N G F E AWomen's R L EFastSPitch SFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2023 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

During summer 2024, Women's Fast Pitch commenced.

It consisted of five live, virtual pitch competitions featuring incredible female founders from across the United States.

The finalists from each region are selected from hundreds of applications from an independent panel of judges based on rigorous selection criteria. 25 semi-finalists are then advanced to the national competition that took place on day two of Women’s Venture Summit 2024.

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2024 Stats

16

697

181

26

6

REGISTRANTS

APPLICATIONS

SEMI-FINALISTS

FINALISTS

23

23

5

10

REVIEWERS

JUDGES

PRESENTERS

TECH CHECKS

Northeast Region WINNER

Heather Lawver

WILDCARD

MEET THE

Semi-Finalists Joanna Shu FREEZENIT

Maria Boustead POCAMPO

Nathalya Mamane RT MICRODX

Jen Fry COORDLE

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Southeast Region FINALIST

Kimberly Evans

MEET THE

Semi-Finalists Melody Roberts

18

LIVLABS

Margarita Womack LATIN GOODNESS FOODS

Martika Jones BUP AI

Erica Feggeler LOW ULTRAVIOLET

Midwest Region FINALIST

Haley Marie Keith

MEET THE

Semi-Finalists Laura Meemken ALL CLEAN FOOD

Nicole Armstrong ELLEQUATE

Lanna Last AIMA

Sarah Hill HEALIUM

19

Northwest Region FINALIST

Janice Williams Oliver

MEET THE

Semi-Finalists Shelley Elkovich

20

FOR BITTER FOR WORSE

Cori Omundson

RISING WINES COLLECTIVE

Amy Yan NOWADAYS

Anna Fuller HALO

Southwest Region FINALIST

Lauren Fang

MEET THE

Semi-Finalists Courtney Young MYOGENE

Natalie Fairbourne YOODLIZE

Kristina McMillan ARGYLE EARTH

Wynn Austin WYNN'S KITCHEN

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Speakers

2024

22

Gabrielle De La Cruz

Danielle Price

Emily Holpert

THE IMPACT SEAT FOUNDATION

HOLLAND & KNIGHT

HOLLAND & KNIGHT

Colleen Badgley

Joanna Hubberts

COOLEY

COOLEY

Tracy Stevens PRODUCT REBELS

Alexis Lewis FIFTH QUARTER

Julius Alejandro VILLAGE UP

Christy Johnson FIRE ROAD I.O

Dana Alligood BANK OF AMERICA

Kathryn Gardow GARDOW CONSULTING

Lucy Postins THE HONEST KITCHEN

Shelley Iocona 360 VENTURE COLLECTIVE

Amy Duncan THE BRINK SBDC

Sonia Steinway JP MORGAN

Nelly Yusupova TECHSPEAK.CO

Stacey Lund TGR MANAGEMENT

Reviewers

2024

Kristen Gendron WILDWOOD VC

23

MIDWEST 2024

Brittni Abiolu

Misti Cain

Laurie Bauer

Dan Sylvester

Judges

VENTURE HUE

24

COOLEY

TECH STARS

HOLLAN & KNIGHT

NORTHEAST 2024

PRODUCT REBELS

Alexis Lewis FIFTH QUARTER

Darya Allen

Pippa Balestrieri

MORGAN STANELY

HOLLAND & KNIGHT

Chris Wayne A10

Judges

Tracy Stevens

23 25

NORTHWEST 2024

Judges

Gabby De La Cruz

26

Phoebe Huang

THE IMPACT SEAT FOUNDATION

COOLEY

Dan Sylvester

Julius Alejandro

HOLLAND & KNIGHT

VILLAGE UP

SOUTHEAST 2024

FIRE ROAD I.O

Cindi Englefield

Kim King

ACCELERATING ANGELS

Dana Alligood BANK OF AMERICA

IMPACTX

Lila Inman COOLEY

Judges

Christy Johnson

23 27

SOUTHWEST 2024

Kathryn Gardow

Judges

GARDOW CONSULTING

28

Kelly Winget

ALTERNATIVE GROWTH PARTNERS

Ilana Brand COOLEY

Renee Lewis

HOLLAND & KNIGHT

Cheryl Contee

IMPACT SEAT FOUDNATION

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING Schedule F E A R L E S S F U WVS ND I N &GSpeakers FEARLESS WVSR 2023 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

Day One

Day Two

Registration, Coffee & Networking Morning Keynote

Registration, Coffee & Networking Morning Keynote

BRAND YOUR WAY TO THE BANK

MASTERING PERSONAL FINANCE: BEST PRACTICES

BAIL TEAM

SETTING VALUATIONS: IT’S ALL WHOO WHOO

WHERE IS AI GOING?

STRATEGIES FOR RAISING IN 2024

THE LP PERSPECTIVE

Grow Your Community to Grow Your Revenue

Harnessing the Power of PR to Drive Your Business: Adapting to Changing Times

Forms of Investment: Picking the Right Financial Structures for Company Longevity

Impactful Angel Investing: the intersection of mind & heart

BREAKOUTS

LUNCH & EXPLORE SPLITTING EQUITY: HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU GIVE TO WHO?

UPDATES ON REGULATORY, TAX AND LEGAL CHANGES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

Closing Keynote Happy Hour

30

Ecosystem Showcase

LEVERAGING MEDIA TO SCALE

WRITING YOUR FIRST CHECK

WFP FINALS BREAKOUTS

FUTURE OF WOMEN'S HEALTH & INNOVATION

LET’S GET TO THE POINT: UNFILTERED PERSPECTIVES FROM INVESTORS

LEVERAGING PEER TO PEER COMMUNITIES

MAXIMIZING MARKETING CHANNELS FOR SCALE

INNOVATION THROUGH INCLUSIVITY

LUNCH & EXPLORE BREAKOUTS WORKSHOPS

WORKSHOPS

BREAKOUTS

Schedule

Ecosystem Showcase

Leveraging IP to Protect What You Build

Essential Legal Tips for Early Stage Startups

Introducing Ecosystem 2: A New Way to Think About Raising Capital

Breaking into VC and Angel Investing

FUNDING BEYOND VC

CRAFTING YOUR ADVISORY BOARD FOR EARLYSTAGE SUCCESS

STRENGTHENING EMERGING STARTUP ECOSYSTEMS

DRIVING SALES THROUGH RETAIL

Paddle Raise Closing Fireside Chat WFP Winner Announced Afterparty

Fearless Funding

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11 Review 2024 YEARS IN

7350

386

8.7M

2.5M

511

126

536

123

485K

165K

ATTENDEES

IMPRESSIONS

INVESTMENT GROUPS

SPEAKERS

32

WEBSITE VISITS

ATTENDEES

IMPRESSIONS

INVESTMENT GROUPS

SPEAKERS

WEBSITE VISITS

2024 WVS Breakdown $175K+

$9,000

IN-KIND DONATIONS

TICKET SCHOLARSHIPS

151

2M+

98

ENTREPRENUERS

PR VIEWS

COMMUNITY MEMBERS

137

92%

INVESTORS

FEMALE

33

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2024 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F U Testimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

Testimonials I flew out from New Zealand for the summit (WVS) and it was TOTALLY worth it. I am excited for all of the new connections I made. None of which would have been possible without the hard work of the Stella team.

Already I’ve met some amazing founders that I’ve introduced to other investors in my community, just in the last couple of hours.

Bridgette Smith Purpose Led Ventures

Mika Leah, Founder of Goomi Group All I can say is WOW. So incredibly impressed with the entire event - from start to finish eery detail was top notch. So many wonderful connections made for everyone in attendance.

Paulette Firestone Founder & Managing Partner of Phoenix Fund

35

Our Partners Love WVS

36

36

Our Speakers Love WVS

36

37

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2024 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS F U N D I N G F E AWVS R Showcase L E S Exhibitors SFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

. . .......

R

24

S.

...

X

H

..

.....E

38

.. ..

Ecosystem Showcase

IBITO

Exhibitors

41

Fearless Funding

FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEA R LWhy ES SHere FUNDING HERstory: We're F E A R L E S S F UBuilding N DAwareness INGFEARLESS Women's FUNDINGFEA R LFastEPitch SSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UWVSNSchedule D I N& Speakers GFEARLESS WVSR 2024 FUNDINGFEA LStats ESSFUNDING F E A R L E S S F UTestimonials NDINGFEARLESS WVS Showcase Exhibitors FUNDINGFEA RLESSFUNDING Sponsors + In-Kind FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS FUNDINGFEARLESSFUNDING FEARLESSFUNDINGFEARLESS

Sponsors

43

In-Kind Donations

42

WOMEN’S VENTURE SUMMIT 2025

WOMEN CONTINUING THE CHARGE

BUILDING

Boldly

SEPTEMBER 23-25, 2025 | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Be a Change in Action: Building Boldly 45

Thank You