Crunchbase is committed to protecting the privacy and safety of the LBGTQ+ community. The process for adding LGBTQ+ tags is opt-in and requires verification — only those who have explicitly given their consent will have their information included in the dataset. Read more about the safeguards we’re implementing here.
Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy — and it’s even more challenging for those who are stigmatized because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A 2023 report by StartOut found that LGBTQ+ founders face additional barriers to raising capital, and another report said that less than 1% of the more than $2 trillion in funding for startups went to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
Statistics like these are why Crunchbase launched Diversity Spotlight three years ago. We want to make it easier to find and invest in companies founded and led by underrepresented individuals.
We’re excited to share that we’ve just added two new tags: “LGBTQ+ Led” and “LGBTQ+ Founded” to help close the inequity gap for this community and further expand our existing dataset.
“Tracking LGBTQ+ data is necessary; without data, it’s difficult for us to advocate for change or study estimated impacts of discrimination in the entrepreneurship and investment space,” said Irene Tang, program director at StartOut, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship. “This new feature will allow us to have more comprehensive insight about our community and further our research efforts.”
More about the LGBTQ+ Led and Founded tags
The addition of these tags is intended to:
- Raise awareness for LGBTQ+ founders looking for funding opportunities and help firms invest in them.
- Enable research and analysis on funding trends within the LGBTQ+ community.
- Offer transparency into investment firms’ LGBTQ+ funding activities.
While we recognize the importance of visibility, we also recognize the importance of privacy — and the fact that not everyone may feel comfortable adding these tags to their profile.
Crunchbase is committed to protecting the privacy and safety of the LBGTQ+ community. The process for adding LGBTQ+ tags is opt-in and requires verification — only those who have explicitly given their consent will have their information included in our Diversity Spotlight dataset. You can read more about the safeguards we’re implementing here.
Expanding the Diversity Spotlight dataset
With the addition of LGBTQ+ tags, there are now a total of 20 Diversity Spotlight tags focused on race/ethnicity, gender and sexual identity in the Crunchbase dataset that help signal diversity within an organization’s leadership team.
To date, 3,084 contributors have added diversity data to Crunchbase, and 28,336 profiles have been updated with Diversity Spotlight tags including, but not limited to:
- 22,604 Women Founded tags;
- 1,540 Black Founded tags;
- 1,458 Hispanic/Latine Founded tags; and
- 566 South Asian Founded tags.
There is still a lot of work to do, however. It will require a collective effort to solve the inequities that underrepresented founders and CEOs face related to race, ethnicity, sexual identity and gender.
One step you can take to move the needle right now is to create a Crunchbase account and ensure your company’s profile is up to date with relevant Diversity Spotlight tags by following these steps (for LGBTQ+ tags, please follow this separate process). The more up to date the profile, the higher chance it has to show up when investors are searching for investment opportunities. You can also find more companies with diverse leadership in search.
“As an entrepreneur who has raised venture capital … I have seen the impact of race, gender, and gender identity and presentation on funding outcomes and media portrayal,” said Lorenzo Thione, managing director at Gaingels. “I believe that inclusion is crucial to building a more equitable and just world where everyone has the chance to succeed, and one where the best and most valuable ideas and talents have the opportunity to flourish and help all humanity — irrespective of who is bringing them to the table.”
Thank you to our community
Thank you to Colorful Capital, Gaingels, LGBT VC, Out in Tech and StartOut for your support in making the LGBTQ+ tags possible — we couldn’t do it without you. And to the investors, startup leaders and Crunchbase community members who have made, and continue to make, the Diversity Spotlight possible — thank you. We have a long way to go to close the funding gap for diverse founders, but the positive response we’ve seen to our Diversity Spotlight gives us hope.
If you’d like to add your company’s Diversity Spotlight data you can do so by following these steps. Or, if you’d like to begin searching for companies with diverse leadership, you can do so here.
As always, we want to hear from you. If you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at spotlight@crunchbase.com.
