Eighty-five per cent of dollars invested in Canadian venture capital (VC) funds in 2018 went to funds with no women partners, according to the report, released Tuesday by Female Funders and Highline Beta. The report also found that women make up 15.2 per cent of partners in Canadian VC firms, and that women’s representation falls in more senior roles. And, it estimates that $4.6 billion is invested in firms with no women partners. (The Logic)
Talking point: The figure is a slight increase from 2018’s report, which put the amount of women partners at Canadian VC firms at 14 per cent. Though evidence shows that including women in senior VC roles leads to more funding for women-founded companies, the industry in Canada is still male-dominated. There have been efforts to help underrepresented groups in the industry; in 2018, the federal government dedicated $50 million of its $400-million Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative program to “alternative” VC firms. But progress has been slow—my colleague Catherine published a report in March which found that just 11.7 per cent of publicly-disclosed Canadian VC investments since 2014 have gone to companies with at least one woman founder, a symptom of the lack of women representation in VC firms.