Women-Founded Biopharmas Make Waves in Venture Capital Landscape

In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has witnessed a significant shift in venture capital funding for women-founded biopharma companies. Despite the challenges posed by the post-pandemic environment, these companies have continued to attract substantial investments, contributing to the sector's innovation and growth.

Stabilizing Investments in Female-Founded Companies

According to a recent analysis by PitchBook, biopharmas with women founders have contributed $64.1 billion in venture capital across 3,375 deals since 2008. The year 2025 has been particularly noteworthy, with $103.7 billion invested across 2,528 deals in female-founded companies across all sectors. Focusing specifically on biopharma, the industry has seen $4.8 billion invested across 203 deals so far this year.

While this represents a decline from the peak of $12.7 billion recorded in 2021 across 412 transactions, it suggests a stabilization of investment in female-founded companies in the post-pandemic landscape. This trend mirrors the broader biopharma sector, regardless of founder gender.

Top Fundraising Rounds and Company Trajectories

The pharmaceutical industry has seen several notable fundraising rounds by women-founded or co-founded biopharmas. Here are some of the most significant:

1. EQRx: The company raised $570 million in a Series B round in January 2021, marking the largest deal in PitchBook's 16-year dataset. Despite this impressive start, EQRx faced clinical setbacks and eventually sold itself to Revolution Medicines in August 2023.

2. Neumora: This neuroscience-focused company secured a $500 million Series A round in 2021. While facing challenges, including an FDA clinical hold and a Phase III failure, Neumora is now poised to release key Alzheimer's disease data for its candidate NMRA-511.

3. Lyell Immunopharma: With a $493 million Series C round in March 2020, Lyell has continued to innovate in the cell therapy space. The company recently began pivotal trials for its autologous dual-targeting CD19/CD20 CAR T therapy, rondecabtagene autoleucel.

4. Laronde: This Flagship Pioneering-backed startup raised $440 million in a Series B round in 2021. However, the company faced data integrity issues and was subsequently folded into another Flagship portfolio company to form Sail Biomedicines.

Geographic and Investment Stage Trends

Much of the venture capital for women-founded biopharmas has been concentrated in the U.S.'s two key biotech hubs. The Boston-Cambridge area saw $24.4 billion in investment across 759 deals, while the San Francisco-Oakland region netted $16.3 billion over 618 deals.

Investment rounds were evenly distributed across early, late, and angel stages. Notably, female-only founded companies secured $7.7 billion in 509 deals, compared to $56.4 billion over 2,866 deals for biopharmas co-founded by women and men.

As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, the role of women-founded biopharmas remains crucial in driving innovation and attracting significant venture capital. Despite challenges and market fluctuations, these companies continue to make substantial contributions to the sector's growth and development.