watch now VIDEO 1:51 01:51 LGBTQ+ organizations are level-setting the VC funding space for Queer founders Money Movers Raising capital remains an enduring obstacle for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Some venture capitalists are trying to change the equation and are backing minority founders to help them scale their companies and create jobs within their communities. According to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship nonprofit StartOut, only 0.
5% of the $2.1 trillion in startup funding between 2020 and 2022 was raised by LGBTQ+ founders, yet 7.2% of the U.
S. population identifies as a member of the community, according to a 2022 Gallup survey. StartOut's State of LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurship Report , which aggregates data from internal research and sources like Crunchbase and Pitchbook, also found that 85% of funding is accumulated in only five metro areas: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Austin, Texas.
The largest cities that lack any LGBTQ+ founders are Orlando, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Birmingham, Alabama. StartOut CEO Brian Richardson told CNBC that jurisdictions with comprehensive nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBTQ+ people are the cities that have stronger benches of queer entrepreneurs. "What we've been able to do through the limited datasets that we have is to start looking at and measuring how much cities and even states are losing out monetarily and employment-wise because they have anti-LGBTQ+ policies in place," Richardson said.
Researchers at StartOut .
