All Raise Quarterly Quotient | Q1 2024 in Review: Celebrating Women, Expanded Connections, and Opportunities

A quarterly roundup from All Raise, including community wins, upcoming events, and news

In Q1, All Raise chapters buzzed with activity, hosting 20 events that brought together hundreds of women and nonbinary investors, founders, and operators. International Women’s Day was especially well-celebrated, with Miami, New York, and Chicago chapters hosting special events.

All Raise also saw a wave of promotions among its members during Q1. Plus two All Raisers, — Lightly CEO and Founder, Dominique Olowolafe and AMP Beauty LA Co-Founder Montré Moore — were featured in Roku Inc.’s new show, “Side Hustlers”! And the term “unicorn,” coined by All Raise co-founder Aileen Lee, celebrates its 10th anniversary in the VC world.

The All Raise VC Partner Cohorts 2024 program launched with 16% participant growth. And planning for the highly-anticipated All Raise VC Summit 2024 is now underway! This year’s working group co-captains, Holly Maloney (Managing Director, General Catalyst) and Ita Ekpoudom (Partner, GingerBread Capital), are partnering with the All Raise HQ team to build on the success of last year’s summit. Stay tuned for information on how to apply to attend.

In this edition of our Quarterly Quotient:

1. SXSW
2. Our Community through Chapters
3. Program Updates
4. All Raisers Promoted
5. All Raisers in the World
6. Big Announcements from All Raisers
7. All Raise HQ
8. Ecosystem news and highlights

Breaking the Mold: Paths to Success for Women in VC

All Raise leaders presented at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2024, a huge conference celebrating the intersection of creativity and technology. The sessions explored the changing landscape of leadership, the rise of female VCs, and how the tech industry can address gender disparity. Read more about All Raise’s participation here.

Building Bridges: Engaging Our Community Through Chapters & Events

In Q1, hundreds of female and nonbinary investors, founders, and operators gathered to connect with and learn from each other through 20 (TWENTY!) events in All Raise chapter cities. And while we celebrate women and nonbinary investors all year long, Miami, New York, and Chicago brought some extra sparkle to March, hosting Breakfast Series across their cities in honor of International Women’s Day. Here are some highlights:

Boston

All Raise Boston teamed up with the Wellesley Blue Angels, a student organization that seeks to create enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and promote interest in the private and venture capital ecosystem, hosted a panel discussion on Career Pathways into the Venture Capital Ecosystem.

The panel was moderated by Kleida Martiro, Investment Partner at Glasswing Ventures and featuring panelists Rudina Seseri, Founder and Managing Partner at Glasswing Ventures; Rose Carpenter, Deputy CIO at Wellesley College; Kiki Mills Johnston, Partner at Drive by DraftKings; and Lily Willess, Vice President of Silversmith Capital Partners; and Sarah Holmes, MBA Associate at Underscore VC. This discussion was followed by networking to foster the next wave of women and nonbinary VCs in Boston. We’d say the future is bright!

Los Angeles

All Raise LA kicked off 2024 strong with their Virtual CFO AMA, moderated by Julie Wroblewski, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Magnify Ventures and member of the LA Steering Committee. Industry experts Marie Drez (Magnify Ventures, Fractional CFO), Sean Park (Citizens, Managing Director of Venture Platform and Emerging VC), and Megan Greer, (Carta, Head of Venture Capital Delivery), dug into topics like audit, compliance, valuation, and banking relationships. We were blown away by the number of questions and engagement we received throughout the event!

Networking events come in all shapes and sizes, as All Raise LA demonstrated this with their Barry’s Bootcamp event. SteerCo member Haley Lyons hosted a small group of women and nonbinary investors for a workout class, followed by a larger Happy Hour to discuss what 2024 and beyond will bring for the LA tech ecosystem!

LA SteerCo Co-Chair Madeline Darcy spoke at UCLA’s Founders & Funders Reception alongside Julie Sina, Yolla S. Kairouz, MBA-JD, Azin Radsan van Alebeek and Catherine Gray. This event was a collaborative effort between the UCLA Venture Accelerator, UCLA Anderson School of Management, UCLA Alumni Association, Bruin Professionals and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, Anderson Angels, All Raise, Tech Coast Venture Network, and Hustle Fund.

Chicago

All Raise Chicago made their mark on the city celebrating International Women’s Day with FIVE breakfast sessions for women and nonbinary investors. SteerCo members Allison Lechnir, Haley Kwait Zollo, Desiree Vargas Wrigley, Lindsay Knight, and community member Kaitlyn Doyle stepped in to host events across the city, each focused on relationship building and connection for investors in Chicago.

New York

All Raise New York kicked off the year in partnership with Avid Ventures to host “How to Progress from Associate to Principal to Partner”, a discussion on cross-level collaboration and achieving career milestones on the path to partner. Panelists included:

• Addie Lerner, founder and managing partner at Avid Ventures
• Rebecca Liu-Doyle, managing director at Insight Partners
• Grace Kotick, senior investor at Insight Partners
• Sophie Starck, investment associate at Insight Partners

All Raise NY got together in February for “Galentines & Gravitas: Lessons on Confidence from McKinsey Consultant turned Founder.” ​Investors brought along a female or nonbinary founder for an evening of sushi, sake, and conversation around cultivating gravitas with SteerCo member Beth Ferreira and featuring Gravitas author Lisa Sun. Whether influencing your investment committee as an investor, closing a customer as a founder, or fundraising from LPs and VCs, the ability to command a room is a skill we need to succeed.

All Raise New York hosted six in-person events throughout March to honor International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. Four small breakfast sessions focused on topics ranging from thesis building, moving from operating to investing, healthcare, and the care economy. Additionally, they held their first Westchester-based session to bring together the Metro North investor community. New York also launched a Fitness Fridays series with two events hosted by Ita Ekpoudom where women and nonbinary investors, founders, and operators gathered to sweat and socialize at a Forward_Space Dance Class and 305 Fitness Class!

Washington, D.C.

For their first event of 2024, All Raise DC hosted Investor Poker Power, a social event and workshop dedicated to teaching women and nonbinary investors how to play poker. Poker teaches new life skills with every hand — reading people, discipline, confidence, and more…all critical skills to be a successful investor.

Miami

All Raise Miami hosted two breakfasts in honor of International Women’s Day. The Wynwood session, hosted by SteerCo members Sharon Holm, Founder and CEO of The Sisterverse, and Maria Derchi Russo, Vice President, Platform & Community at Florida Funders; and the Coconut Grove session, hosted by SteerCo Co-Chair Marilu Livermore, Partner & Chief Growth Officer at Founders Circle Capital created networking and relationship-building opportunities for women and nonbinary investors within the ecosystem! These small group gatherings were very well received by the community.

All Raise Program updates

The program launched with a packed Power Breakfast hosted by Cowboy Ventures in Palo Alto, CA. Amongst the attendees included All Raise co-founder and board member Aileen Lee and her fellow Midas lister sister Mar Hershenson. Participants shared personal and career challenges and offered each other support, they discussed topics including A.I., coaching, personal branding, and industry trends. Post event reviews gave 5 stars across the board, with attendees raving about the collaborative and insightful experience.

Building Brand Buzz: How All Raise Brings Black and Latinx Founders to the Forefront

The All Raise Black and Latinx Media Mastery (BLMM) program empowers early-stage Black and Latinx founders to land media coverage and boost their brand awareness.

This year, the program partnered with All Raise PR partners and industry experts Grady & Burke to provide participants with evergreen resources. These resources include a guide on finding and hiring the right PR consultant, and a list of key reporters who cover venture capital and startups — invaluable tools for any founder seeking media attention.

The program’s success is evident in stories like Brittany Cassin’s, she is a BLMM participant who attended ViVE 2024, where she pitched her company and landed a feature article (check it out here)!

Two All Raisers: Lightly CEO and Founder, Dominique Olowolafe and AMP Beauty LA Co-Founder Montré Moore were both featured in Roku Inc.’s new show, “Side Hustlers”! The series highlights incredible female entrepreneurs and it’s wonderful to see All Raisers like Montre shine.

Dominique participated in the All Raise Black and Latinx Media Mastery program (BLMM), which aims to equip Black and Latinx early stage founders with the skills needed to secure earned media coverage to raise their brand visibility. 🎥

Montre serves on the All Raise LA Steering Committee that works to amplify and connect women and nonbinary investors and founders in the local community.

Our Leaders: All Raise 2024 VC Partner Cohorts

This quarter, All Raise launched the VC Partner Cohorts 2024/25 program, inner circles for partner level venture capitalists. We saw 16% growth in program participation compared to 2023 and engaged new female VCs from across 11 states. For 60% of this year’s program participants, it was their first time joining the program, infusing the cohorts with fresh energy and perspectives.

All Raise VC Principal Cohorts: The Next Generation of Investors Driving Change

VC Principal Cohorts, peer circles for principal level venture capitalists, had a strong kickoff and welcomed new participants to the 2024/25 program. The program continues to evolve, welcoming new working group volunteers from the industry — Zeeza Cole (Bain Capital Ventures) and Lulu Chang (Canapi Ventures) alongside our HQ team and inform programmatic decisions. Their expertise will shape and support the participant experience to empower the next generation of VCs.

The 2023/24 VC Principal Cohorts wrapped up its virtual workshop series with:

• Founder and CEO of SANDWINA Bridget Lohrius’ insights on securing influential mentors and sponsors
• VITALIZE Venture Capital Partner Gale Wilkinson on navigating LP relationships
• Fireside chat with the inspiring Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction, offered invaluable guidance and real-world experience

And to close this quarter’s activities for our VC Principal Cohorts, Monica Dyches and Deborah Chu celebrated the end of the 2023/24 cohort program with their local peers at a private, in-person networking mixer in San Francisco, fostering connections within the Bay Area VC community. Thank you to Prysm Capital for hosting us in their beautiful office.

All Raise VC Champions: Power Players

All Raise introduced a new group of VC Champions, a program that connects underrepresented principal-level investors with leading General Partners in venture capital, for 2024. The program also welcomed two new Champions: Rebecca Liu-Doyle, Managing Director at Insight Partners, and Matt Carbonara, Managing Director at Citi Ventures. The interest in the program was incredible and we surpassed our goals by 64%. Due to the high demand, All Raise is planning to expand this program. Here’s what some of the participants shared about their experience:

The All Raise Community Shining

Let’s acknowledge these newly promoted VCs in the All Raise orbit:

• Jennifer Kwan Mandelbaum, Partner, Halogen Ventures
• Astasia Meyers, General Partner, Felicis
• Grace Ge, Partner, Amplify Partners
• Zehra Naqvi (operator- 2x founder turned investor), Investor, Headline

All Raise out in the world

• Aileen Lee, All Raise co-founder and board member, was interviewed on This Week in Startups podcast.
• Our CEO, Paige Hendrix Buckner shared her journey and the importance of diverse stories on Brydge Club podcast.
• Pam Kostka, former CEO of All Raise, spoke at Graham & Walker’s LP Summit about what needs to change in the tech and venture ecosystem as well as the opportunities for the next waves of innovation.

Big announcements from All Raisers

• Shout out to 2x VC Partner Cohort member, co-founder, and GP Diana Murakhovskaya at The Artemis Fund for closing Fund II at $36M with 5 new investments already inked for this new fund. Fund II continues their mission to invest in female-founded startups in fintech, commerce, and care.
• Gale Wilkinson at VITALIZE Venture Capital in Chicago closed their over subscribed Fund II at $23.4M.
• Kelauni Jasmyn at Black Tech Nation Ventures raised $50M for their maiden fund.
• Alexa von Tobel at Inspired Capital closed their fund III at $330M.
• Valentina Rodriguez, All Raise LA Steering Committee member and Principal at Wonder Ventures announced a $102 million close to be spread across two funds.
• All Raisers Jennifer Keiser Neundorfer and Madeline Darcy were selected to participate in the Journey to Lead program.
• Monique Woodard at Cake Ventures announced an investment in Aster, a startup focused on advancing prenatal and postnatal care.
• Heidi Krauel Patel and Jenny Abramson at Rethink Impact, announced an investment in Parallel, a startup focused on teletherapy for kids with special needs.

All Raise HQ Sets Course for a Powerful Year

Your All Raise HQ team gathered in Chicago for our annual offsite in February. Together, we tackled our OKRs (objectives and key results) — the roadmap to our goals. We also built stronger connections with each other, reaffirming our shared passion for All Raise’s mission and vision. We extend our gratitude to the Orrick team who hosted us and helped make this offsite a truly memorable and productive experience.

This International Women’s Day, Paige celebrated the success of women in VC who led the charge in raising over $3.5B last year.

Ecosystem news and highlights:

• Niremia Collective closed a $22.5M fund that will fund startups focused on well-being technology
• 58 Black investors changing the venture capital industry
• Goldhirsh Foundation announced an all-female investment committee
• 3 takeaways from VC funding for female founders
• Women receive just 1.9% of VC funding. Here’s why and what founders can do

Stay connected

With the year still young, 2024 holds the promise of exciting events, achievements, and connections yet to be discovered. Keep up with All Raise by signing up for our newsletter or following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter.