As the calendar flips to 2025, it’s prediction season on Wall Street, and here’s one that should be on every investor’s radar: this could be the year women-founded companies finally get the spotlight and the capital they deserve.
At the same time, New Year’s resolutions are circulating. Why not make yours a bold one? In 2025, resolve to invest in women.
The so-called “funding gap” isn’t new, but it remains staggering: startups founded solely by women receive just 2% of venture capital dollars, a figure that has stubbornly refused to move in over a decade. Meanwhile, U.S. women have launched businesses at nearly twice the rate of men between 2019 and 2023.
So no, this isn’t a fairness issue, it’s a glaring inefficiency. Can anyone truly believe that women only come up with 2% of the best ideas?
A $32 Trillion Market Hiding in Plain Sight
When markets overlook women, women spot opportunity. A recent report from BCG estimates this overlooked potential is worth $32 trillion.
Take menopause, a universal experience that’s long been ignored by the mainstream healthcare market. Now, a wave of startups are targeting the $600 billion and growing space. “In 2025, I expect at least one of these companies will reach unicorn status,” Walton notes.
The shift is already underway. Silicon Valley Bank reports a 314% increase in VC investment across women’s health from 2018 to 2023. Even as digital health funding fell by 27% from 2022 to 2023, Deloitte found women’s health tech still grew by 5%. That’s resilience and momentum.
“In 2025, I think we’ll see a woman’s health company file to go public,” Walton predicts.
Women Are Reshaping Employee Benefits
Outside of healthcare, women-led innovation is making waves in employee benefits, a market worth $2.8 trillion. One area to watch? Financial wellness.
“Inclusive financial health tools will help employees including underserved women by traditional investment products build wealth and reduce financial stress,” Walton says. And that matters, because according to MetLife, financial stress is the No. 1 cause of poor mental health in the workplace.
Other innovations are targeting healthcare access. Through ICHRA (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements), new platforms allow employees to choose their own coverage using employer-contributed, tax-free funds. That flexibility is vital for women and others with unique medical needs.
Betting on Underestimated Categories—and Winning
Olivia Walton is putting her money where her mouth is. As founder of Ingeborg Investments, she’s focused on overlooked markets with massive upside, many of them historically dismissed due to gender bias.
Among the firm’s portfolio: a virtual care clinic for 75 million midlife women; a startup normalizing emergency contraception for 65 million American women of childbearing age; a company improving health access for 165 million people with vaginas; and a digital platform supporting the nearly 75% of working moms across all stages of parenting.
“These gaps are fertile ground for innovation and money-making ideas,” Walton writes. “Looking for the next billion-dollar market? A burning problem that hasn’t been solved? A product that millions of people didn’t know they needed but suddenly can’t live without? Ask a woman.”
Women Aren’t Waiting—they’re Building Equity
Whether it’s healthcare, family support, or financial security, women entrepreneurs are meeting the needs of real consumers, especially women.
But the obstacles they face in raising capital remain daunting. From overly risk-focused pitch room questions to skepticism about women-centered products, systemic biases still run deep.
And yet, change is brewing. The percentage of female partners at VC firms has nearly doubled over the last five years, reaching 18% according to AllRaise. It’s progress, albeit slow.
“Venture capital funds the future,” Walton says. “So, it matters who decides which market needs get met—or get recognized in the first place.”
Women Aren’t Waiting—they’re Building Equity
If capital drives change, then women are preparing to take the wheel. By 2030, women in the U.S. are projected to inherit a staggering $30 trillion from the baby boomer generation, a transition Ellevest has dubbed “the feminization of wealth.”
One telling stat: more than one-third of pre-retirement-age women expect to receive over $1 million in inheritance, based on a recent survey of 500 retail investors.
“If even a fraction of this wealth is invested in women entrepreneurs, it could change the funding game—and our economy—for good,” Walton writes.
Investing In Women Is No Longer Just The Right Thing—it’s The Smart Thing
Over the past five years, Walton’s fund has backed more than 20 women-led VC funds and two dozen female-founded startups. These companies are tackling challenges around motherhood, career advancement, financial health, and better living. And that number is set to double in the next five years.
“Not because doing so is nice,” she notes. “But because it’s smart.”
In 2025, the most forward-thinking investors won’t just be chasing returns. They’ll be chasing impact, by betting big on women.
