Kaela Roeder
Oct 30, 2025
The Agora Initiative’s fall showcase puts the spotlight on women leading cutting-edge companies in the DMV region.
Three women founders will have a chance to earn a $10,000 non-dilutive grant at a purpose-driven DMV showcase in mid-November.
The Agora Initiative is hosting its second contest of the year for female founders on Nov. 12 at Halcyon House in Georgetown, featuring three pitches from health technology companies. Fifty-eight entrepreneurs applied to present, and digital health and biotechnology startups dominated that pool, per Agora cofounder Kelly O’Malley.
Last year just 2% of money went to firms founded only by women.
Women founders are deeply underrepresented when it comes to venture capital in the US. Last year just 2% of money went to firms founded only by women. When they have a male co-founder, the outlook gets a bit better. Those companies nabbed 21% of investments in 2024, per PitchBook data.
The trend translates to the DC region. Locally, female co-founded businesses raised $255 million last year, out of a total of $2 billion in DMV venture capital activity.
Just under half the applications for the latest Agora Initiative competition were from Marylanders, while the other half were split between DC and Virginia.
“With such a competitive pool, narrowing it down to just three finalists wasn’t easy,” O’Malley told Technical.ly. “The committee focused on selecting founders with strong early traction and the potential to be truly venture-backable.”
Finalists will join past participants like Lyme Alert, an at-home tick testing kit for Lyme disease, who won the Agora Initiative’s spring 2025 competition.