Even in 2020, among data that suggests that female founders deliver higher profits and are likelier to run their company in a more socially responsible manner, women still face discrimination when fundraising and launching companies.
In the last decade, the number of deals made with founding teams that included women has risen from 7.9% to 15.7%, according to findings from Pitchbook. However, venture funding for female founders hit its lowest quarterly total in three years: Firms invested $434 million in the third quarter, the lowest figure since the second quarter of 2017, according according to PitchBook data.
Numbers like these are why venture capitalist Jennifer Neundorfer, whose firm Jane VC focuses on female founders, described her investment philosophy as common sense. "We're going to invest in an underlooked asset class that is overperforming," she told Crunchbase's Natasha Mascarenhas.
In an effort to highlight the success of female founders, a new report has catalogued the female entrepreneurs that have received the most funding in every country. Using data from Crunchbase, the report chronicles the work of female founders from tech powerhouses like the US and China, as well as in emerging markets such as Pakistan and Uganda.
Here are the top 10 highest-funded female founders in the world.
SEE ALSO: 18 female founders who self-funded their businesses share their top advice for startup success
10. Milda Mitkute, $260 million
Mitkute cofounded Vinted, a resale shopping app where people can buy and sell secondhand clothing.
Since launching in 2018, the platform has gained more than 25 million users and passed a $1 billion valuation, making it one of Lithuania's largest startups, according to TechCrunch.
9. Ilise Lombardo, $278 million
Lombardo is the cofounder and chief medical officer of Arvelle Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Switzerland that focuses on treatments for central nervous system disorders.
In May, the company closed its Series A round which brought its total funding to $207.8 million.
8. Sophie Kim, $282 million
Kim is the founder and CEO of Market Kurly, a grocery-delivery app in South Korea. The company saw sales more than triple from the year it launched in 2015 to 2019, reported The Korea Herald.
7. Frances Kang, $581 million
Kang cofounded fintech company WeLab with her husband Simon Loong in 2013.
WeLab was among Hong Kong's first companies to apply for virtual banking licenses, according to South China Morning Post.
6. Cristina Junqueira, $1.1 billion
Junqueira cofounded Nubank, a digital banking company based in Brazil. According to the company's LinkedIn profile, it serves more than 20 million clients. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Nubank was valued at $10 billion.
5. Victoria van Lennep, $1.2 billion
Van Lennep is Head of Operations for UK fintech Lendable, a peer-to-peer loan marketplace that connects borrowers with investors using a "no-faff, straightforward application."
The platform has secured over $1 billion in debt since it launched in late-2014.
4. Kate Keenan, $1.4 billion
Keenan co-founded Australian SME-focused "challenger bank" Judo in 2016 after a career at National Australia Bank, where she oversaw NAB's Asian portfolio.
Following a Series C round, Judo has raised more than $1.4 billion.
3. Tan Hooi Ling, $ 9.9 billion
Ling oversees operations for Grab, a Singapore-based late-stage venture that provides transportation and financial services to millions of customers in Southeast Asia, the fastest growing region in the world.
The Softbank-backed company's Series I put its total funding at nearly $10 billion.
2. Rebekah Neumann, $19.5 billion
Although Neumann was largely invisible at WeWork during its rise, her husband Adam, the company's founder and then-CEO, claimed that she had been a "strategic thought partner" in filings ahead of the company's failed attempt at an IPO.
The company is now worth far less than what investors have given it, down to $2.9 billion from its peak last year at $47 billion.
1. Lucy Peng, $22 billion
Peng helped launch Alibaba's payment processing business, known as Ant Financial, leading it to haul in $22 billion in funding before she departed to become CEO of the Southeast Asian e-commerce Lazada Group.