Female Founder Office Hours: Meet the Investors, Part III
In startupland, it is no secret that the odds are stacked against female entrepreneurs. Despite this, women-owned businesses constitute 40 percent of all businesses in the US, representing 12.3 million companies. Venture capital (VC) investment in all-female founding teams hit $3.3 billion in 2019, or 2.8 percent of capital invested across the entire US. Moreover, female-founded and mixed-gender teams raised 11.5 percent of all VC investment last year (up from 10.6 percent the previous year).
Anthemis launched the Female Innovators Lab in partnership with Barclays last year to ensure that, as an investment firm dedicated to transforming the future of financial services, we are playing our part in turning the tide for female entrepreneurs. In a distributed and virtual working world, we have joined forces with Diversity VC and Ladies Who Launch to bring over 40 VC investors in front of female entrepreneurs across the US in the form of a ‘virtual office hour’ on June 30. The goal is to enable founders to connect with and gain insight from the investment community, in the hope of building further fruitful relationships long term.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have introduced the (majority female) investors who are taking part in the initiative. This week, I have the pleasure of introducing you to the final group. Be sure to check out Part I and Part II of our Meet the Investors series.
BDMI — Rachel Lauren
Stage: Series A–Series B
Sector: Digital Media
Headquartered in New York, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) is a VC firm focused on innovative digital media technologies, products and distribution channels in North America, Europe and Israel. BDMI concentrates on early stage investments in the digital media landscape. The company focuses predominantly on Series A and B investments but also has a seed fund that includes about 20 companies. The initial investment range is from $0.5 million to $3 million. BDMI looks for opportunities where it can accelerate growth through its financial and management resources and close connectivity with one or more Bertelsmann divisions.
Cambrian Biopharma — Juliette Han
Stage: Seed
Sector: Biotechnology
Based in New York City with operations across the US and Europe, Cambrian Biopharma is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies to prevent and cure age-related diseases. Cambrian is focused on the basic biology of aging, a field known as “geroscience.” The company has a network of collaborations with leading aging-focused academic labs, partnering early to spin out newcos and progress assets into the clinic. Cambrian operates on a holding company model, advancing assets in distinct subsidiary companies, each of which is developing a ‘pipeline-in-a-pill’ type therapeutic solution that has the potential to treat multiple age-related diseases by addressing the fundamental biochemical damage that causes aging.
Chai Angels — Rajiv Kapoor
Stage: Angel
Sector: Generalist
Chai Angels specializes in investing in the future of living, work and health with the main focus on female-founded companies
City Light Capital — Sarah Millar
Stage: Pre-seed–Seed
Sector: Impact, Sustainability
City Light is a VC firm that invests early in impactful companies. It partners with experienced teams building category-defining solutions in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment — where more revenue equals better lives at scale, every time. As one of the earliest and most successful impact investing firms, City Light has a track record of identifying and scaling impact in ways that build better companies.
M3 Advisors — Stephanie Marshall
Sector: Media/Technology
M3 Advisors is a boutique consultancy focused on market-making in the media and technology industries. With experience in Fortune 100 companies and in small, early stage start-ups, M3 Advisors helps clients of all sizes create and implement new revenue-generating programs, primarily in innovative areas. This ranges from strategic and business planning, market and business development, and marketing and commercialization. M3 Advisors believes people and passion are everything — even more so when the two are combined.
Mindset Ventures — Jules Miller
Stage: Seed–Series B
Sector: Agriculture, Financial Services, Healthcare, Cybersecurity, Education and Enterprise Software
Mindset Ventures is an early stage VC firm with investment focus primarily in the US and Israel. The company targets B2B startups with strong technology applied to agriculture, financial services, healthcare, cybersecurity, education and enterprise software. Mindset Ventures supports the growth and development of groundbreaking companies and helps them connect with the Latin American market by providing access to advisors and potential clients in the region. The company works together with founders and key executives leading them to great results — that’s the Mindset!
NextGen VP — Deborah Chu
Stage: Seed
Sector: B2B, DevTools, Cnnstructiontech, HRtech, Regtech, Cyber
NextGen Venture Partners works with over 1,100 Venture Partners to invest $1 million in seed-stage companies and $2 million to $10 million in companies with more than $10 million in revenue. The firm’s Venture Partners are top founders and innovation executives across the country whose expertise and connections help NextGen accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies.
NFP Ventures — Carolina Rojas
Stage: Seed–Series B
Sector: Digital Health
NFP Ventures’ mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary entrepreneurs, applying NFP’s expertise to facilitate long term success. Typically, the firm targets companies seeking Seed to Series B investments that can benefit from NFP’s distribution, human capital and other unique assets to accelerate their growth.
Springbank Collective — Courtney Leimkuhler
Stage: Early stage
Sector: Career, Care, Consumer
Springbank Collective is a coalition of values-aligned investors, corporations and nonprofits working together to eliminate the gender gap. The company’s objective is to mobilize $100 million in private capital to build the tools, products and services to do this.
The Impact Seat — Barbara Clarke
Stage: Angel
Sector: Generalist
The Impact Seat aims to bring clear sighted, science-based ideas to diversity and inclusion, focusing on developing pathways for money and talent to drive innovation that is inclusive. The Impact Seat is about data and action.
The Path Ahead — Pat Hedley
Stage: Angel
Sector: Generalist
The Path Ahead is focused on high growth companies with disruptive technologies, passionate teams and new ways to address old problems. Areas of focus and current investments include edtech, business services, wellness and consumer.
Upfront Ventures — Aditi Maliwal
Stage: Series A
Sector: Media, Retail, SaaS
Los Angeles-based Upfront Ventures is an early stage VC firm making national investments in technology-forward companies and founders. They invest in technology businesses across digital media, SaaS, consumer internet and retail. Upfront Ventures was founded in 1996 and is led by Managing Partners Yves Sisteron and Mark Suster.
Urban Innovation Fund — Julie Lein
Stage: Seed
Sector: Smart Cities
Urban Innovation Fund is a VC firm that provides seed capital and regulatory support to entrepreneurs who are working to solve our toughest urban challenges , helping them grow into tomorrow’s most valued companies. With 81 percent of Americans living in cities and two-thirds of the world’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, urban dwellers face a growing number of challenges. Urban Innovation Fund supports startups creating scalable solutions to these challenges.
Volt Capital — Soona Amhaz
Stage: Pre-seed–Seed
Sector: Crypto
Volt Capital is an early stage crypto investment fund built out of the unique Token Daily community. The fund leverages this community, along with an extensive network of academic research lab relationships, to discover, develop and make high conviction bets.
W Fund — Kate Brodock
Stage: Pre-seed–Series B
Sector: Generalist
W Fund invests in Pre-seed through Series B companies. The fund also reserves a portion of its capital to invest in proven portfolio managers who share our mission and vision, and have a successful investment track record. At least 70 percent of its investments will be in women-led startups, with at least 50 percent of those founders also coming from another traditionally underestimated group. The remaining 30 percent of W Fund’s investments will be allocated to founders of startups who are dealing with issues based on race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identity, socioeconomic status, nationality, age or location. W Fund is a solution focused on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.
West Ventures — Joanna Rees
Stage: Early stage
Sector: Generalist
West is a venture studio that comprises a team of market and brand experts with investor discipline. The firm enables companies to define and defend their market opportunity with a brand people love, creating work to deliver results for startups for a combination of fees and equity. West’s venture fund selectively invests in its studio clients.
