Tech startups lack female leadership

While tech startups and entrepreneurs are a rapidly increasing sector of the job market, there is one group that seems to lack representation in the profitable industry - women.

According to data from Dow Jones VentureSource, only 11 percent of U.S. firms with venture-capital funding in 2009 were currently or formerly led by female CEOs or founded by women.

Many women have decided to tackle the problem head on, the Wall Street Journal writes. Startup executives Dina Kaplan and Susan Lyne, along with Paley Center for Media CEO Pat Mitchell, have created a group for young and established tech female executives.

The "Breakfast Club," as it is called, provides networking opportunities, social support and a venue for swapping practical advice about running a tech company.

“Part of the reason to form the group is to form true friendships and connections that could lead to business opportunities…but also to create pretty hardcore camaraderie,” Ms. Kaplan, co-founder of online-television network blip.tv, told the WSJ.

Women entrepreneurs are also hosting competitions to inspire and spur creativity. The WIE Network in partnership with i/o ventures has announced that it is offering a $25,000 investment prize as part of an effort to find the next "female tech trailblazing entrepreneur."