Report: Women made up nearly half of angel investors in 2023

Report: Women made up nearly half of angel investors in 2023

Report: Women made up nearly half of angel investors in 2023

By Lucia Maffei

Women are increasingly joining the ranks of angel investors, and now make up almost half of angel investors nationwide, according to a new report.

Last year, women angels represented 46.7% of the angel market, marking the third year in a row of increased participation. Women angels accounted for 39.5% of the market in 2022 and 33.6% the year before.

That’s according to research by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, which released the 2023 iteration of its nationwide angel market analysis report on June 20.

Jeffrey Sohl, the center director who authored the report, told the Business Journal that a couple of factors are driving the increased participation of women in angel investing.

One explanation is visibility: as more women angels receive attention, more women realize that that’s something they can do, too.

“We know women have the net worth, but they don’t necessarily do the investing,” Sohl said. “More and more people see these things in the press, they’ll say, ‘Wait, I have the net worth … let me start looking into this possible angel investing.'”

Another factor at play, said Sohl, is the the fact that as more women get involved in entrepreneurial ventures, many achieve exits and become angel investors right after.

The report noted that women-owned ventures accounted for 46.3% of the entrepreneurs that were seeking angel capital in 2023, another increase from 2022 (37.1%) and 2021 (28.6%).

The increase in women angels may also be encouraging more women entrepreneurs to seek high-risk angel capital, something they have historically done less often than their male counterparts.

Sohl said that women angels are probably investing in healthcare and software businesses, mirroring the sectors scoring the highest percentages of angel investments. Healthcare services, medical devices and equipment received 25.2% of angel investments in 2023, followed by software (25.1%) and fintech (12.9%).

While the report covers national trends, Sohl noted that the New England region has always been a player in the angel investing market, and continues to be.

“There’s a lot of healthcare stuff coming out of New England. There’s also a lot of software,” he said. “It’s a viable angel market, and it has a lot of good deals. It’s one of the key markets in the U.S. I don’t see that going anywhere.”

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