The US National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), in cooperation with Dow Jones VentureSource, published a comprehensive report about venture capitalists, focusing on origin and gender. The study analyzed 600 venture capitalists both as investors and in administration.
The results are not at all surprising. As in many other fields in the US that involve money, only white men sit at the top. And indeed, the report found that 89% of employees who deal with investments in venture capital funds are men, and only 11% are women. The report also analyzed support-level positions; one step down from the top, there is a little bit more ethnic and gender diversity: 79% of finance, marketing, and public relations managers are men, 87% of which are white and under 30.
US venture capital firms might not let women touch the big money, but they are happy to decorate their offices with them. 62% of the administrative staff of venture capital firms are women. Women investors appear more prominently in life sciences (15%), cleantech (18%), and IT (12%).
Another statistic that appears in the report shows that 95% of people who work in the industry are US citizens; 2% are Canadian; 1% are Asian; and 1% European. Venture capitalists confirm that they work 60 hours a week. 44% of them are married.
The report shows that 85% of venture capitalists in the US are members of LinkedIn, 62% also have a Facebook account, and 33% have Twitter accounts.
Similar research has not been conducted in Israel, but even a quick glance at the Israeli venture capital industry is enough to see that the overwhelming majority of VC managers in Israel are white Ashkenazi males between 45 and 60. Erel Margalit, Ze'ev Holzman, Yossi Sela, Avi Zeevi, and Erez Shahar are just a few of the names on this very long list.
Women are not very well represented - Ruti Alon and Rona Segev-Gal of Pitango and Hadar Ron of IHVC are the sole female representatives in the Israeli VC industry. Other groups are also not represented - not even one Arab is employed in Israeli venture capital firms.
Shlomo Kalish is an exception. He is the only haredi (ultra-orthodox) Israeli venture capitalist, although he has slowed down in the last few years. Kalish was also a member of a large group of former pilots who manage funds, such as Chemi Peres and Aaron Mankovski.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 7, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011