Cynthia Ringo and Nancy Pfund are succeeding in a testosterone-filled world by committing to do more than just make money for their investments. Out of 462 venture capital firms in the US, only their company -- San Francisco-based DBL Investors -- is run just by women.

Ringo is a former managing director at Vantage Point Venture Capital and Pfund was previously an investment managing director at Hambrecht & Quist, a boutique acquired by JP Morgan.

Their name comes from "double bottom line" because they want social, as well as financial, returns on their investments.

According to a profile in The Mercury News, that investment philosophy has won plaudits from their clients: [ http://bit.ly/p1siin ].

DBL was an investor in electric car manufacturer Tesla, which went public last year, and Pandora Media, the online music service that floated in June this year.

“Ringo and Pfund make an unusual pair in an industry that's overwhelmingly male - and which features plenty of testosterone-laced braggadocio over who's getting the best deals," says the article.

"That two women in a relatively young firm managed to get in on Tesla and Pandora reflects their commitment to do more than make money, entrepreneurs who've worked with them say.”

Joe Kennedy, chief executive of Pandora, told the newspaper that DBL advised the company on developing a music education class at a local school that it is now looking to expand and extending healthcare cover to part-time employees.

The venture capital industry has $11.5bn that it is waiting to invest - $9.5bn in the US and $2bn in Europe - according to blog PEHub which cited data provider Preqin : [ http://bit.ly/qnEVdK ]

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