Outside of tech circles Philadelphia may be best known as the home of cheesesteaks and Rocky, but the city is also a vibrant Life Science hub and a particularly attractive home base for female entrepreneurs. The Philadelphia metro area ranked 13th in SmartAsset’s Best Cities for Women in Tech report for 2021, and PitchBook data shows that Philly is the fourth-best place to raise capital as a woman. In 2021, more than 3,600 companies with at least one woman founder collectively received $54.8 billion, and 931 companies with all women founders collectively raised $6.4 billion. The bianual Women in Tech Summit serves this community of female entrepreneurs.

The ecosystem’s proportion of venture capital funding is growing. In 2021, Philadelphia startups closed 441 deals valued at $8.1 billion, a 299% increase on 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2021, $2.6 billion was invested in 90 deals across the ecosystem, while already in Q1 2022, dbt Labs closed a $222 million Series D at a $4.2 billion valuation. Local fundraising success stories include Gopuff’s $1.2 billion Series G in March 2021 and Houwzer’s $100 million debt financing round in February 2022.