The Next Women CEOs Who Could Take Their Companies Public

Clockwise from top-left: Ellen Kullman, Alyssa Ravasio, Anne Wojcicki, Melanie Perkins, Heidi Zak and Emily Weiss. Photo of Anne Wojcicki by Bloomberg; all others provided by subject.
By
Zoë Bernard

Female founders have missed out on much of the recent market euphoria. Startups founded by women accounted for fewer than one-fifth of new U.S. stock listings last year. Startups led by women CEOs made up an even smaller portion of those public offerings. But there are modest signs of change.

Bumble’s $2.1 billion initial public offering earlier this month made its 31-year-old founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, the latest of a small group of female entrepreneurs and executives who have led their companies to a public listing. The co-founder of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki, will take her DNA testing service public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company in the next six months. Other high-valuation startups led by women, such as design app Canva and neighborhood social network Nextdoor, could follow.