Female Founders
Austin ranks No. 2 in the nation for most women-owned startups
While there's still a gap between men and women when it comes to, well, a lot of things in business, Austin is among the top cities in the United States for women-owned startups.
In an effort to find the metropolitan areas with the most women-owned startups, Seek Capital conducted a study on the largest 50 metro areas using data from the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs.
In Austin, 32.7 percent of startups are owned by women. That percentage ranks Austin at No. 2 in the U.S., behind only St. Louis. In total, Austin has 1,433 women-owned startups which employ 6,716 people.
Across the country, 24.5 percent of the nation's startups are owned by female entrepreneurs, so — compared to the U.S. — Austin is ahead of the game. The top industry for women-owned businesses nationwide is healthcare and social assistance, but closer to home,the top industry for businesses owned by women is real estate.
In the study, a "startup" is defined as a company less than two years old and "female owned" means at least 51 percent of the company is owned by women.
Houston is the only other Texas city to appear on the list. It lands at No. 17 with 26.6 percent of startups owned by women, but it comes in at No. 7 when looking at the sheer number of women-owned startups: 2,783, which employ 9,378 people.
Earlier this year, Texas was named the best state for female entrepreneurs by Fit Small Business. The methodology for that report included evaluating, with four equally weighted factors, general business climate and opportunity, the number of female-owned businesses, economic and financial health, and safety and well-being for women.
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This story originally appeared on CultureMap's sister site, InnovationMap.com.
