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Texas Ranks No. 2 for Women-Led Startups

Published Jan 24, 2022 by Brina Morales

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Texas climbed to the No. 2 slot in women-led startups in 2021 due to increased venture capital investments, according to a new annual report.

In 2021, Texas was No. 6 in Merchant Maverick's best states for women-led startups report. The study uses gender-specific metrics to evaluate each state.

The state’s five-year total for female-focused venture capital investments more than doubled to $814 million in this year's report from $365 million in the 2021 report.

"Thanks to rising startup hubs in cities like Miami, Boulder, Phoenix, and Houston, more funding opportunities are available to female entrepreneurs than ever before," according to the report.

Houston is home to more than 700 venture-backed startups, receiving $2.7 billion in capital funding from 2016 to 2020.

In 2020, the most heavily invested industry for VC funding in Houston was health care, which received more than $1.1 million in funding, according to the financial database Pitchbook.

Houston business leaders recognize that innovation plays a vital role in building a great global city. Last year The Ion, a tech hub opened in the heart of the Innovation Corridor, aiming to advance tech entrepreneurship by offering commercial office space for established companies and co-working space for early-stage startups. The region is also home to more than 50 other startup development organizations that have emerged in recent years, including incubators, accelerators, makerspaces, coworking spaces and more. 

Here are the top 10 states for women-led startups in 2022, according to Merchant Maverick:

  1. Colorado
  2. Texas
  3. Florida
  4. Washington
  5. Maryland
  6. Montana
  7. Massachusetts 
  8. California
  9. Arizona
  10. Virginia

Learn more about Houston’s innovation ecosystem. 
 

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