FILE PHOTO: The Goldman Sachs company logo is seen in the company's space on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 17, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc will pump $500 million into companies led, founded or owned by women, as it steps up efforts to close the gender investing gap, the Wall Street bank said on Tuesday.

The program, Goldman Sachs’ second geared toward female entrepreneurs, will also help clients invest directly in private, late-stage companies or provide seed capital for women starting their own funds.

“The bottom line is this makes sense for our business – because investing and helping companies grow is our business,” Stephanie Cohen, Goldman Sachs’ chief strategy officer, said in a statement. “We also hope it makes a difference for women who have big ideas but find themselves cut out of the funding ecosystem.”

Cohen cited statistics showing that only 2 percent of U.S. venture capital in 2017 went to companies run entirely by women and just 12 percent went to teams with at least one woman. Less than 2 percent of U.S. private equity firms are women-owned, she said.

The program, called “Launch With GS,” follows Goldman Sachs’ “10,000 Women” which debuted in 2008 to provide female entrepreneurs in developing economies with business education and access to capital. An online education component was added in May.

Goldman Sachs aims to have women make up half of its global workforce, starting with new analysts by 2021.

Only five of the 31 executives listed on the bank’s management committee are women, one of whom is retiring. The bank also reported a wide gender pay gap in Britain for its international business earlier this year.

(This version of the story fixes typographical error in company name in paragraphs 2, 3 and 5)