The Bluegrass State doesn't rank high among the best states for female founders, but it's not at the bottom of the barrel, either.
Merchant Maverick, a comparison site that reviews small business software and services, released its top 10 ranking of states where women-led startups can thrive. And well, Kentucky isn't one of them — we'll get to that.
Colorado Inno, KY Inno's sister publication, reported the Centennial State shined due to its percentage of women that are self-employed in their own incorporated business, the analysis said, at 2.37% which is second only to Montana. Colorado ranked more than 10 points higher than the second-best state, Texas, with a score of 75.2. Florida was No. 3.
In compiling the list, Merchant Maverick used data from Pitchbook, the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Labor and other sources to identify five key focus areas.
It looked at total venture capital in the past five years invested into women-led startups, the percent of employer firms led by women, the percent of employees at women-led firms, the percent of women self-employed in their own business and the average income of women self-employed in their own business.
Kentucky came in at No. 33 on the list with an overall score of 42.4. Indiana came in right behind Kentucky in the No. 34 spot, while Ohio was a few spots down at No. 36. Tennessee was actually among the 10 worst states for women founders, coming in at No. 41 on the list.
Here's a quick breakdown on Kentucky's stats:
- 23.7% of employer firms are led by women
- 16% of employees at women-owned firms
- 1.44% of women who are business owners
- $40,998 average income of women business owners
- $263 million invested into women-led startups over the past five years
- 79.09% startup survival rate
- 5% income tax rate
- 4.3% unemployment rate
In comparison to the other states, Kentucky ranked high for its startup survival rate and the total amount of venture capital invested in women-led startups.
That historical capital investment data point is an interesting one. While the report doesn't detail the deals, one would have to assume a big chunk of those dollars include the $100 million invested in Talaris Therapeutics in 2019, which was led by founder Dr. Suzanne Ildstad up until that point.
We've also had a handful of smaller, albeit still significant rounds from female-led firms, such as a $9.5 million Series A raised by SentryHealth when co-founder and then-CEO Alice Shade was at the helm a few years ago.
