Venture capitalism has long been a male-dominated field. Only 11 percent of those in positions to make investment decisions in the industry are women. However, women like Ann Miura-Ko, who Forbes recently named as "the most powerful woman in startups" - are changing that. Miura-Ko co-founded VC firm Floodgate, and sits on the board of Lyft, Ayasdi and Inscopix, with previous board experience on Refinery29, Xamarin, and TaskRabbit. But her impressive portfolio is not the only one worth noting.
Compiled by Business Insider, here are a few more powerful women in VC to keep on your radar this year:
Trailblazing Founders:
1. Kirsten Green, Founding Partner at Forerunner Ventures
Known for: Savvy e-commerce deals.
Notable investments: Birchbox, Glossier, Bonobos, Retention Sciences, and Warby Parker.
2. Theresia Gouw, Founding Partner at Aspect Ventures,
Known for: Serving as a long time partner at Accel; investments in security-tech companies.
Notable investments: Trulia, ForeScout, and The Muse.
3. Anu Duggal, Founding Partner at Female Founders Fund
Known for: Interest in female entrepreneurship; founding The Tasting Room.
Notable investments: Winky Lux, Maven Clinic, Shine Text, Billie, and LandIt.
4. Alicia Syrett, Founder & CEO at Pantegrion Capital
Known for: Early-stage investments.
Notable investments: BeautyBooked, Cisse Trading Co., EnerKnol, Everwaters, and Nomad.
5. Nisha Dua, General Partner & Co-founder at Built by Girls Ventures
Known for: Investments in women-led startups
Notable investments: The Wing, Glamsquad, Modsy, Carbon38, GoTenna, Pymetrics, and Zola.
Powerhouse Partners:
1. Mary Meeker, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Known for: Leadership in Wall Street security analysis
Notable investments: Square
2. Laurel Touby, Managing Partner at Supernode Ventures
Known for: Transition from journalism to venture capital; pre-seed/early stage deals.
Notable investments: Braze, LaunchMetrics, PeerIQ, Credijusto, Click Therapeutics, and AlphaHQ.
3. Sutian Dong, Partner at Female Founders Fund
Known for: Early-stage investments in software startups.
Notable investments: ELOQUII, Tala, Maven, Zola, Winky Lux, WayUp, and Thrive Global are just a few of the companies she's invested in over the course of her career.
4. Elizabeth Galbut, Partner at SoGal Ventures
Known for: Investing in diverse founding teams across the US and Asia.
Notable investments: Everlywell, Unbound, Proscia, eMocha, Hidrate, Insilico Medicine, and Glidian.
5. Hayley Barna, Partner at First Round Capital
Known for: Founding cosmetics retailer BirchBox in 2010.
Notable investments: Madison Reed and RAB Lighting.
6. Susan Lyne, President & Managing Partner at Built By Girls Ventures
Known for: Being the former CEO of AOL's brand group.
Notable investments: Full Harvest, Winky Lux, Modsy, and Maverick.
7. Jessica Lee, General Partner at Spark Capital
Known for: Selling her fashion website, Polyvore, to Yahoo for $230 million in 2015
Notable investments: Uber, Slack, Square, and InVision.
8. Shauntel Poulson, General Partner at Reach Capital
Known for: Her work as a senior engineer at Procter and Gamble; co-founding $53 million education technology fund Reach Capital.
Notable investments: SchoolMint, Schoolzilla, and Newsela.
9. Beth Seidenberg, General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Known for: Investing in the digital health and the biotech sector.
Notable investments: 3-V Biosciences, Armo Biosciences
10. Margit Wennmachers, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
Known for: Co-founding one of the tech world's elite PR firms, The OutCast Agency.
Notable investments: Amazon
Other Notable VC Leaders:
1. Maya Baratz Jordan, Managing Director at Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator
Known for: Creating new-to-market digital products.
Notable investments: Pilotworks, Purple, MovieQu, Wall Street Journal, and Disney
2. Nisa Amoils, Board Advisor for Scout Ventures
Known for: Investments in AI, robotics, cybersecurity, and drones.
Notable investments: HeTexted, BeautyBooked, Know Your Crew, BARTRENDr, Dealflicks, Modalyst, and laxmi.
3. Beth Ferreira, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Known for: Overseeing deals in generation commerce, consumer tech, and enterprise companies.
Notable investments: Glossier, Daily Harvest, Masterclass, Hooked, and Hu.
4. Joanne Wilson, Angel Investor at Gotham Gal Ventures
Known for: Influence in New York city's tech scene.
Notable investments: Food52, Sweeten, Vengo, Nestio, Shippabo, Flip, Clutter, and Union Station.
5. Fran Hauser, Angel Investor
Known for: Influence in media companies; supporting women-founded companies.
Notable investments: Gem&Bolt, Mogul, HelloGiggles, and The Wing.
