Key Takeaways
- • 23 women achieved partner or higher positions at major VC firms in 2023, including marquee names like Khosla Ventures, GV (Google Ventures), Menlo Ventures, LRVHealth, and Founders Fund, signaling continued incremental progress in a male-dominated sector.
- • Women remain significantly underrepresented in VC leadership, comprising only 16% of general partners at U.S. VC firms with more than $50 million in assets as of 2022—the most recent data available—indicating structural barriers persist despite annual gains.
- • GV and Khosla Ventures led institutional hiring, each promoting or recruiting multiple female partners to their investment teams, with GV adding London-based Luna Schmid (formerly of Summit Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund) and promoting Frédérique Dame (former Uber product and engineering executive).
- • Specialized expertise drives recent promotions, with new female partners focusing on enterprise software, AI, machine learning, cloud infrastructure, fintech, and deep tech—reflecting strong institutional demand for technical domain expertise across emerging technology verticals.
- • Dell Technologies Capital promoted Radhika Malik to partner, expanding her focus to enterprise, ML, AI, cloud infrastructure, and deep tech investments, while other notable appointments included Theory Ventures' hiring of Lauren DeMeuse (former Palantir and 8VC investor) and GV's promotion of Crystal Huang for enterprise software and fintech.
Summary
Women in venture capital achieved meaningful advancement in 2023 with 23 promotions and new hires to partner-level positions across leading institutional VC firms, though persistent gender gaps in the industry remain stark. According to PitchBook data, women represented only 16% of general partners at U.S. VC firms holding more than $50 million in assets as of 2022—the most recent available benchmark—underscoring that progress, while notable year-over-year, continues at a measured pace against a backdrop of industry contraction and tightening deployment capital.
Major institutional firms drove visible advancement. GV expanded its partner roster with Luna Schmid, a London-based investor who previously deployed capital at Summit Partners' Venture Capital Fund and SoftBank's Vision Fund, bringing deep experience in late-stage venture deployment. GV also promoted Frédérique Dame to general partner; Dame previously served as head of product and engineering at Uber, positioning her to leverage operational expertise in enterprise-focused due diligence. Crystal Huang, also promoted to GV general partner, specializes in enterprise software, infrastructure, and fintech segments. Dell Technologies Capital promoted Radhika Malik to partner with mandate spanning enterprise, machine learning, AI, cloud infrastructure, and deep tech—a portfolio reflecting institutional appetite for technical depth.
Beyond the marquee firms, partner-track advancements extended across the broader VC ecosystem. Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, and LRVHealth each added women to their investment teams, while Theory Ventures hired Lauren DeMeuse, a former Palantir employee with prior experience at Roam Analytics and 8VC. Business Insider's recognition initiative notably excluded women launching independent micro-funds or operating as angel investors, focusing exclusively on institutional partner promotions at established firms.
The 2023 cohort underscores a strategic shift: new female partners predominantly focus on technical infrastructure, enterprise applications, and emerging technology verticals where institutional capital flows remain robust despite broader market slowdown. The combination of slow sector-wide progress and meaningful institutional hiring at top-tier firms suggests that advancement for women in VC remains concentrated among well-capitalized platforms with established deployment capacity.
Major institutional firms drove visible advancement. GV expanded its partner roster with Luna Schmid, a London-based investor who previously deployed capital at Summit Partners' Venture Capital Fund and SoftBank's Vision Fund, bringing deep experience in late-stage venture deployment. GV also promoted Frédérique Dame to general partner; Dame previously served as head of product and engineering at Uber, positioning her to leverage operational expertise in enterprise-focused due diligence. Crystal Huang, also promoted to GV general partner, specializes in enterprise software, infrastructure, and fintech segments. Dell Technologies Capital promoted Radhika Malik to partner with mandate spanning enterprise, machine learning, AI, cloud infrastructure, and deep tech—a portfolio reflecting institutional appetite for technical depth.
Beyond the marquee firms, partner-track advancements extended across the broader VC ecosystem. Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, and LRVHealth each added women to their investment teams, while Theory Ventures hired Lauren DeMeuse, a former Palantir employee with prior experience at Roam Analytics and 8VC. Business Insider's recognition initiative notably excluded women launching independent micro-funds or operating as angel investors, focusing exclusively on institutional partner promotions at established firms.
The 2023 cohort underscores a strategic shift: new female partners predominantly focus on technical infrastructure, enterprise applications, and emerging technology verticals where institutional capital flows remain robust despite broader market slowdown. The combination of slow sector-wide progress and meaningful institutional hiring at top-tier firms suggests that advancement for women in VC remains concentrated among well-capitalized platforms with established deployment capacity.
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