Jersey City leads world in percentage of female start-up founders

October 08, 2019

Jersey City is home to the highest percentage of venture-funded companies founded by women, according to a study by banking app Tide.

Female-founded businesses account for 23.5 percent of those in Jersey City that received more than $1 million in funding, a  higher proportion than any city in the world, according to the study.

The research, sourced from Crunchbase’s directory of the 6,904 female-founded and 72,200 male-founded companies, found that only 17 percent of venture dollars go to female-founded businesses.

Jersey City is home to a variety of female-founded businesses, including fintech company Open Door LLC, which has received nearly $31.9 million in investements according to Crunchbase.

Mayor Steven Fulop told NJBIZ via email he believes that being recognized as the leading location in the world for female-founded business speaks to the city’s efforts to build a nurturing environment for female entrepreneurs and business owners.

“In fact, we’re setting the tone on the government level,” Fulop said. “Since I’ve taken office, 50 percent of our senior leadership appointments have been female. We look to encourage diverse recruitment on all levels by offering various workshops and partnerships through our Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (both of which are led by women) to ensure our businesses have the support and resources needed to succeed.”

Of female founders who have received $1 million or more in venture funding, the most popular degrees held were engineering, finance and computing. Based on dollars raised, English, biology, and chemistry degrees brought in the most venture funding at $42.3 million, $32.3 million, and $29.7 million respectively.

Read the full article here.

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