StartOut: Enhancing Human Capital in Entrepreneurial Pipelines
Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in fostering economic empowerment and social change in marginalized communities. For LGBTQ+ individuals, business ownership can be a pathway to self-determination and a means of addressing community needs. Integrating LGBTQ+ lived experience in the development of innovative solutions has the power to improve health and well-being for both LGBTQ+ individuals and the broader community, making LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs key drivers of health innovation.
However, structural barriers and systemic inequities continue to limit access to entrepreneurial opportunities, especially for those with multiply marginalized identities. Less than 0.5% of venture capital funding goes to out LGBTQ+ founders, with even greater disparities for LGBTQ+ racial and gender minorities.
The Challenge
Despite a strong capacity for innovation, LGBTQ+ founders face disproportionate challenges throughout their entrepreneurial journeys. These barriers lead to a “leaky pipeline” effect, where many are overlooked or drop out before reaching critical milestones in establishing their businesses. The result is a loss of full representation in startup ecosystems, and a loss of innovation. Without inclusive pipelines, fewer businesses are designed to address LGBTQ+ needs, further reinforcing disparities in access to culturally relevant services, products, and spaces.
The Client
StartOut is the largest nonprofit dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in the U.S., with over 18,000 members since its launch in 2009. The organization empowers queer founders by providing mentorship, networking, funding, and resources to help LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs fairly compete in the business world. StartOut builds and maintains entrepreneurial pipelines to ensure LGBTQ+ founders have equitable opportunities to success.
The Work
Committed to exceeding national benchmarks for representation, StartOut’s Chief Program Officer commissioned Eidos to analyze their pipeline, uncover representation gaps, and identify how their programming could be enhanced. We conducted a comprehensive review of StartOut’s existing founder development pipeline, mapping out its intentions, offerings, and outcomes.
Our analysis revealed both strengths and areas for improvement, leading to strategic, data-driven recommendations to close representation gaps. The findings highlighted areas where StartOut’s founder representation exceeded national averages and identified populations with room for growth.
The Results
Using StartOut’s data and insights, our analysis found that StartOut has been successful in connecting with a broad ecosystem of founders, providing crucial support to underrepresented founders. However, they experienced a leaky pipeline as drops in diversity occurred during the stages to accelerator acceptance.
By pinpointing these trends, Eidos equipped StartOut with actionable information to refine their programming and expand equitable access for all LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Strengthening these pipelines isn’t just about representation; it’s about ensuring that LGBTQ+ founders have the opportunities and support to develop solutions that meet the needs of their communities.
Irene Tang, StartOut’s Director of Data and Insights, shared:
“Working with Eidos on understanding the leaky pipeline has been an exceptional experience. Their expertise and academic rigor confirmed our hypothesis around the loss of diversity in our membership base. They not only helped us quantify the disparities but also collaboratively outlined actionable recommendations. We are deeply grateful for this partnership and the opportunity to study a never-reported aspect of the LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship pipeline—insights that will help us better support LGBTQ+ founders navigating startup accelerator programs."
By strengthening representation in entrepreneurship, we advance the broader movement for LGBTQ+ health equity, driving greater economic stability, innovation, and improved health outcomes for all.
Discover our recommendations and how StartOut will implement them in the full report.