PitchBook 2025 Report Highlights Trends in VC for Female Founders

• PitchBook has released its report on women founders in the US and Europe for 2025
• The report examines the venture capital deals for companies with at least one woman founder
• Artificial Intelligence has had a significant effect on the industry

PitchBook, a premier provider of private capital market intelligence, has announced the launch of its 2025 US and European versions of All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem, which offers in-depth analysis of the venture capital landscape for businesses with at least one female founder.

The reports indicate that the US and European venture capital markets are dominated by capital concentration, high valuations for larger businesses, and artificial intelligence (AI) trends.

The US and European venture capital markets have seen tighter deal activity in 2025, with a focus on mature and scaled businesses.

The number of deals has declined in 2025 as investors have moved away from the frenetic pace seen in the aftermath of the pandemic to focus on fewer and more targeted deals.

Businesses that have managed to raise capital have done so at higher valuations, emphasizing the trend towards investing in businesses that are more resilient to market changes.

AI has also seen significant investment in 2025, which has resulted in capital concentration at the upper end of the scale. Exit activity has also seen positive growth in 2025 with total exits increasing and aggregate unicorn valuations reaching all-time highs.

Joanna McGinley, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives for PitchBook, stated that female entrepreneurs are experiencing a more concentrated and selective venture market.

There are still inequities within access to funding as there are phenomenal amounts available for companies that show scale or resilience.

Additionally, having an understanding of how female founders are gaining progress and where structural obstacles exist is critical to developing high-performance, durable portfolios as well as building pathways to allow increased numbers of women to lead, invest in, and grow companies.

The US market and the European market differ in their distribution of venture capital, with the United States having historic deal sizes and dollar amounts for female founders driven primarily by megadeals at the AI level and an increase in the number of IPOs being completed.

The European market has a declining number of deal executions and values; hence, their method of investment is much slower and more selective than in the US market.

The trending in the US marketplace is much more driven by growth at scale, while Europe appears to be more focused on building structural progress and producing fewer larger exits.