References

Utah ranked #3 best state to start a business

Utah ranked #50 for women's equality — 11 consecutive years

Full-time working women earn 73 cents per dollar men earn — worst in U.S.

Lifetime earnings gap: $755,120 over a 40-year career

Utah ranked 45th for female-owned businesses (15.8%)

SLC ranked dead last among 50 most populous metros for female-owned businesses (14.8%)

Utah ranked 6th in economic clout for women-owned businesses despite ranking 35th in share

Licensed childcare meets 21% of demand in Utah

68%+ of working Utah mothers have children under 6

129,429 women-owned businesses in Utah

Women are 44.5% of all small business owners (up from 31% in 2020)

14.5 million women-owned firms nationally

Employment grew 37.2% to 12.9 million workers

Revenue surged 73.7% to $3.3 trillion

Revenue growth 3× the rate of male-owned firms

All-female teams received 2.3% of global VC ($6.7B of $289B)

All-female teams: 1% of U.S. VC in 2024 — down from 2% in 2023

Record 24.3% of exit count in 2024

13 new unicorns (43 total female-founded)

Median female-founded unicorn reached status in 4.2 years

Active female angel investors at decade low

VC deal count for female founders declined 3rd straight year to lowest since 2018

Utah VC to female founders: $21M of $1.1B (1.92%)

Women-founded: 78¢ revenue per $1 invested vs. 31¢ for male-founded

2.5× more revenue per dollar invested

Women raised $935K avg vs. $2.1M for men

10% more cumulative revenue over 5 years

Companies with female founder performed 63% better

3 of top 10 investments by value had at least one female founder

Analysis of 300 investments, ~600 founders

Women-led private tech companies: 35% higher ROI

12% higher revenue when VC-backed

15% less capital burned consistently, even in bull markets

Burn rate: $270K/mo vs. $320K avg

7× jump in female-led IPOs 2014–2024

Top quartile gender diversity: 39% more likely to outperform (up from 15% in 2015)

Note: correlation, not causation

Pelion: $500M Fund VIII

Sorenson Capital: $150M Fund III

Epic Ventures: $200M

Survey of 251 Utah women owners

65.7% used personal savings to start

52.8% in business 5 years or less

Most common industries: services, consulting, IT, food services

Business failure drops from 25% to 13% with mentoring

Research supporting the value of organized women's investment and business networks

3,300+ listings in the women-owned business directory

Named 2025 SBA Women's Business Center of Excellence

Utah policy leadership aimed at increasing employer-scale women-owned firms

Founded 2004. 1,100+ investors over 20 years

Currently ~290 members across 9 chapters in 28 states

Invested $190M+ in 260+ women-led companies

Investments catalyzed $2B+ in follow-on funding

Knowledge Institute: 9-course investor education curriculum

Investors spending 40+ hours on due diligence: 7.1× returns vs. 1.1× for <20 hours

Founded 2013 in Chattanooga. $7.7M under management

Invested in 30 women-led companies across the Southeast

Engaged capital of 100+ women investors (83% female)

Investments leveraged 19× additional capital from co-investors

First checks: $100K–$250K

Book: "Jump In" by Kristina Montague chronicles the model

Portfolio IRR above 20% — top decile for early-stage investors

200+ members trained through "Angels-in-the-Making" bootcamp

Serves as "friends and family" funding round for founders without wealthy networks

"Learn-by-investing" model — closest structural match to Silver & Salt's collective approach

Thematic funds: FemTech, Active Aging, Consumer, Rising America. Women investors choose themes they know.

Collaborative decision-making among women investors

"New Table" campaign: goal to bring 10,000 new women into venture investing

Leverages network of 25,000+ senior executive women from How Women Lead

Trained ~200 women angels through pilot programs

Partnered with Portfolia, ACA, Kauffman Foundation

Launched funds in both US and Europe

Regional membership group for female investors. No minimum investment barrier — lowers the on-ramp

Member of Angel Capital Association

Prescreened deal flow + education model — similar approach to Silver & Salt

Largest professional org for accredited angel investors in North America

Members deploy $650M+ annually in angel investments

Average angel return: 2.5× in 4.5 years (Wiltbank/Boeker study)

⚠️ Needs review: Pull key national stats on women-owned business growth, access to capital barriers, and policy recommendations. Cross-reference with S06 (SBA data) and S07 (Wells Fargo) for complementary stats.

⚠️ Needs review: Baseline year-over-year comparison data. Use NWBC "By The Numbers" for quick-reference national stats.

⚠️ Needs review: Updated version of the Wells Fargo/WIPP study (S07). Should contain latest revenue, employment, and growth rate data for women-owned firms nationally.

⚠️ Needs review: Most current aggregate stats on female founder funding, growth, and trends. Could update or replace older data points from S08, S09.

⚠️ Needs review: Title suggests alpha returns from investing in women-founded companies. Framing the funding gap as an investment opportunity — directly aligned with Silver & Salt's "pricing error" thesis.

⚠️ Needs review: Study on gender differences in angel/startup investing behavior. Likely contains data on women's investment motivations, check sizes, sector preferences, and risk tolerance — critical for positioning Silver & Salt's model.

⚠️ Needs review: Press release summarizing S36 findings. Likely contains the headline stats and quotable framing — "roadmap to unlock women's wealth" language could be useful for site copy.

67% of women investors plan new venture fund commitments in 2026

⚠️ Needs review: If verified, this is a powerful "timing is right" data point — demand exists NOW. Use on Join page and Opportunity page.

⚠️ Needs review: Academic research on gender, entrepreneurship, and venture ecosystems. May provide peer-reviewed backing for claims about structural barriers and funding inequality.

⚠️ Needs review: Data on women in C-suite, board seats, and leadership positions at Utah companies. Strengthens the "infrastructure exists but women are locked out" argument on the Opportunity page.

⚠️ Needs review: Likely contains Utah economic growth data, industry composition, and workforce stats. Context for the "why Utah, why now" story.

⚠️ Needs review: 20-year retrospective on Golden Seeds. Likely contains updated investment totals, member growth, lessons learned, and return data beyond what's in S22. Quote: "We think the returns are better."

⚠️ Needs review: Practical guide from a working investor. 45+ investments analyzed. Could inform Silver & Salt's investor education curriculum and due diligence framework.

⚠️ Needs review: Beginner-accessible framing of angel investing. May contain data on minimum check sizes, platforms, and trends that support Silver & Salt's accessible entry point ($10K+ commitment).

⚠️ Needs review: Programs training new impact investors. 2026 Learning Lineup includes structured investor education. Could be a model for Silver & Salt's member education programming or a direct partnership.

⚠️ Needs review: Full roster of women-led funds. Useful for competitive landscape analysis and for showing momentum — "X new women-led funds launched in 2025 alone."

⚠️ Needs review: Global context — even the World Bank is building infrastructure for women entrepreneurs. Shows Silver & Salt is part of a worldwide movement, not a local experiment.

Total Utah deal value 2025: $1.86B (169 transactions)

Pre-seed + seed share: 27.4% of invested capital (lowest since 2017)

Implied Utah pre-seed/seed pool: ~$509.6M

December typically busiest deal month — $509.6M is likely a floor

Many more rounds were unannounced or below $1M threshold

$2.5M pre-seed raised May 2025

Co-founded by Emily King (CEO, Ogden, UT) and Kip Kaehler

Led by Unusual Ventures (Sarah Leary, Nextdoor co-founder)

AI-augmented human advisors for household management. Active in 20 cities, 12,000+ tasks completed

1 of only 2 female-co-founded Utah pre-seed/seed raises in 2025 sample

$1.25M seed raised May 2025

Co-founded by Dr. Heather Holmes (Assoc. Prof, Chemical Engineering, U of U)

Led by Rusheen Capital Management (LA). Air quality forecasting from NSF-funded research

Named 2025 "Startup of the Year" by U of U Technology Licensing Office

1 of only 2 female-co-founded Utah pre-seed/seed raises in 2025 sample

18-round disclosed sample totaling $72.65M. Only $3.75M (5.2%) went to female-co-founded startups

Best estimate: ~$31M of $509.6M Utah pre-seed/seed pool went to female-founded startups (range: $20M–$51M)

Utah's 5.2% is roughly one-quarter to one-third of national benchmarks (Carta: 24.2%, SEC: 19%)

Methodology: PitchBook denominator, publicly disclosed deal sample, founder gender verified through press releases and bios (not name inference)

12.6% of U.S. adults qualify as accredited investors (~33.6 million people)

If retirement accounts excluded from net worth: 9.4% (~25.1 million adults)

Current ownership of private-market securities among accredited investors: only 4.3%

Measured at individual level (not household) — 7,500 surveyed Jan 2024

Utah population: 3,551,150 as of July 1, 2025

Added 44,351 residents since 2024. Growth rate slowed to 1.3%

Natural change (births > deaths) now primary driver — first time this decade

Park City population: ~8,300. Summit County: ~43,000

Median household income: $140,875 (nearly 2× national). Average: $247,300. Top 5%: $1,294,042

Median property value: $1.74M (5.73× national average)

57.3% of housing units vacant — second homes, seasonal residences. Owners not counted in resident population

Per capita income in Summit County: $74,755 (nearly 2× Utah average)

Wasatch Front base estimate: ~88,000 accredited women (range: 55,000–120,000)

Park City / Summit County: ~4,000–15,000 accredited women (residents + second-home owners)

Combined estimate: ~92,000–103,000 accredited women in the S&S Capital market area

The stated "100+" figure is deliberately conservative relative to the combined estimate