Venture Capital Journal

Venture Capital Journal featured Velveteen Ventures this month (Jan 2026) in a piece tracking the growth of women-led VC firms. The data is worth sitting with.

Women-led funds' share of total venture fundraising peaked at 3.7 percent in 2023. It dipped to 3.01 percent in 2024 and declined again in 2025. Those numbers matter — and they demand honesty about how far we still have to go.

But here's what the headline misses: women-led funds still commanded a greater share of total VC in 2025 than they did in 2022. In one of the most difficult fundraising environments in recent memory, that is a market signal.

At Velveteen, Karla Brollier, Katherine Stabler, and I didn't launch this firm because the conditions were favorable. We launched it because the work is necessary. We invest in the four C's — care, climate, community, and consumer — because these are the sectors that shape how children thrive and how our planet endures. That mission doesn't pause for a down market.

The hard truth about venture is that capital follows familiarity. Women-led, Native-led, and emerging managers are aware the system wasn't built with us in mind. Growing the number of firms is meaningful — but until fundraising share reflects actual representation, the work isn't done.

We are proud to be part of the data point that's moving in the right direction. We're even more committed to making sure it keeps moving.

Read the full Venture Capital Journal piece here.