[Advanced] How Women Are Changing the Tech World (2)

Five years ago, starting and funding a female-led tech company would have been a formidable task, says Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. But, today, women are helping each other through groups such as Women Who Code, Astia and Girls in Tech, and some venture capitalists are warming up to backing companies led by women.

"We (women) try to band together and look out for each other," says Brit Morin, 26, founder of Brit. In April, she landed $1.25 million in seed funding for Weduary, a Web app for building wedding sites.

"It's great to be a woman in tech. It's definitely a buzzy time," says Katia Beauchamp, 29, CEO of Birchbox, a monthly subscription service for grooming and beauty products. "We're blazing a path, but we're also benefiting from other pioneers."

Foremost among those receiving credit is Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, who has successfully juggled running a multibillion-dollar company and raising a family while mentoring female execs.

Sarah Leary, who co-founded Nextdoor, a private social network for neighborhoods, also credits the dramatic jump in angel investors who have taken their riches from Google, PayPal, eBay and Yahoo, and invested them in start-ups.

Only 1% of venture-capital money was invested in companies run by female CEOs in 2010, the most recent year available, according to Dow Jones VentureOne. 

A scant 3% of public companies are headed by women, says research company GMI.

"There always has been, and continues to be, a shortage of female-led companies," says Dana Stalder, general partner at VC firm Matrix Partners, which has investments in female-led start-ups. About 10% of private companies in Matrix's portfolio were founded by female entrepreneurs.

Female leaders are convinced that such start-ups will lead to spin-offs or investments in other companies led by women.

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