Women found and co-found a growing share of venture-backed companies, yet remain underrepresented in both the number of deals and — more sharply — the dollars invested. That gap widens at later stages and concentrates geographically. Merian Ventures invests at the center of it: female-founded and co-founded companies in AI, machine learning, and consumer technology across the United States and United Kingdom.

1. The participation gap — deals and, more so, capital. In European venture, female-(co-)founded companies account for a minority of both deal count and capital invested, with the capital share lagging the deal share — women-led companies are funded less often and, when funded, receive a smaller share of dollars (PitchBook, Feb 2026). Among female-involved deals, mixed female-and-male teams outnumber all-female teams roughly 4:1 (21,995 vs. 5,498 deals; PitchBook, Apr 2025).

2. The gap widens downstream. Deal volume falls steeply toward later stages — angel/seed (12,075) well ahead of early-stage (9,129) and later-stage (6,289) (PitchBook, Apr 2025) — and U.S. data by deal type (2014–2023) shows the same drop-off from early to later VC (SSTI / PitchBook, May 2024). The unmet need is most acute beyond the earliest rounds.

3. Capital concentrates geographically. U.S. venture dollars remain more concentrated than deals in the Bay Area (PitchBook, Jul 2025). In Europe, female-founder activity clusters in a few hubs, led decisively by London (4,944 deals) and trailing to Amsterdam (370) (PitchBook, Apr 2025), within a broader European market whose dollar volume by country and by quarter through 2025 provides the backdrop (Crunchbase, Mar 2025).

4. Why this is Merian's focus. (MV interpretation.) Together, the data describe a growing but under-capitalized segment, with the sharpest gaps downstream of seed and outside the largest hubs. Merian Ventures' mandate — female-(co-)founded AI/ML and consumer companies across the US and UK — targets exactly that underserved, high-potential intersection.