Arizona’s YellowBird Included in Female Founders to Watch
Female founders have long struggled to raise startup funding compared to their male counterparts, and there have been a slew of new funds and initiatives launched in recent years to get more money in the hands of women-led startups.
Even with increased efforts to boost these startups, the amount of venture capital that makes its way to female founders has remained paltry. And when it comes to startups led by all-women founders, funding is declining. Startups led by all-women teams raised just 1.9% of all VC funding last year, down from 2.4% the year prior. Startups with at least one female founder raised 17% of all venture capital funding in 2022, the same percentage raised in 2021.
To spotlight some of the country’s promising women-led startups, American Inno has compiled its first national Female Founders to Watch list, a collection of startup leaders behind fast-growing young firms. With input from our startup reporters in more than 40 cities across the country, we’re providing a list of names that need to be on your radar — from founders leading artificial-intelligence unicorns to bootstrapped founders just getting started.
Our Startups to Watch series, which also includes AI Startups to Watch and serial entrepreneurs to watch, is designed to give a snapshot of thriving founders and companies from across the country. Dive into our inaugural Female Founders to Watch list below:
Michelle Tinsley, co-founder and president of YellowBird
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona
Funding: $8 million
Tinsley is the co-founder and president of YellowBird, a health and safety skilled-labor compliance and consulting app that matches subject-matter experts with construction, manufacturing and insurance companies. Tinsley, who spent more than two decades at Intel Corp., raised $6 million in a seed round this year from investors including Nationwide’s venture capital arm and Plug and Play.