There is no data to show how little venture capital goes to trans founders.
All that exists is a report from Backstage Capital which states: 1% of all venture capital funds went to founders who openly identified as LGBTQ+. (according to a recent one) opinion poll7.1% of Americans identify as LGBT+.)
That’s a staggeringly low amount of funding, though not surprising when you consider how homophobia and transphobia can easily creep in and keep investors from giving money to those who don’t support or understand them.
“Investors would be so paralyzed by the complexity of this patient population that we wouldn’t even be able to pitch our product.” Kate Anthony, founder, Euphoria
Kate Anthony, the founder of the app Euphoria, which connects individuals with gender-affirming health care resources, said her fundraising journey has been horrendous and “very difficult.” Investors didn’t understand how big the trans population was or why her company was needed. She also had to deal with a lot of prejudice.
“There’s a 50-50 chance if I’m talking to someone they don’t want someone like me to exist,” she said.
“It was a game of massive trial and error,” she said, adding that she pitched 272 investors and got 12 on Euphoria’s pre-seed cap table. She wants to raise an official seed round, though she’s reluctant given the economic climate, not to mention the bias she’s likely to continue to face as a trans founder. “It’s just depressing and demoralizing.”
londonbusinessblog.com conducted a survey of current market sentiment — what we like to call a “vibe check” — to see what it’s like for trans founders looking for venture capital, especially when their product is aimed at the trans community. Many said that investors often mistrust the market potential of their product, while others described an emotional process of expressing themselves at every meeting to people who may or may not support their existence.