2021 Recap: An Epic Year for Plum Alley

Facing the challenges head on, we persevered to have our best year yet.

2021 was fast and furious, presenting us with exciting new milestones, while also challenging us to stretch and adapt in new ways. We kicked off this year with the announcement of our Plum Alley Venture Fund I. With our deep commitment to open access for underrepresented investors in venture, we are proud to have a rich and diverse set of investors from individuals and family offices to foundations and institutions. Our Plum Alley syndicate investors member SPVs and our Plum Alley Venture Fund reached new heights as we collectively invested $18M together across 9 companies in 2021. Which brings our total historic investment as of the end of 2021 to over $50M across 28 companies. This is a great achievement for our team, and we are incredibly proud that a majority of our syndicate investors and LPs are women and minorities.

We doubled down on our investment thesis investing at the intersection of deep tech and frontier healthcare in category killer companies founded by women scientists and technologists. We continue to invest in prime Series A and Series B opportunities. And, we remain balanced between thesis-driven and opportunistic investments — with a keen focus on where technologies and medical breakthroughs are future proofing everything from climate, health, cities, how we live and shop, and how industries digitize and stay relevant in an increasingly sustainable future. We also have our own convictions about where to find the next big opportunity. We look for world class, diverse founders with breakthrough ideas with a lens of a more equitable future.

Over the last 12 months, we made 9 core investments including two in climate, three in frontier healthcare, one in data analytics and smart cities, one in the future of retail, two in health and longevity. Our investments span the US with two in NYC, three in SF, and others across Boston, DC and a European company expanding into the US.

Notable New Investments 💰

• Biobot — A wastewater analytics platform that is able to test sewage for COVID outbreaks spun out of MIT by two female founders. Their Series A was led by Thursday Ventures with participation from existing investors including The Engine and American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. Press release here. Plum Alley’s Medium post regarding this investment is available here.
• Helaina — A food science company using precision fermentation to grow human proteins found in mother’s milk disrupting the infant formula market. The Series A was led by Spark Capital and Siam Capital with participation from Primary Ventures. Plum Alley’s Medium post regarding this investment is available here. TechCrunch article here.
• Openwater — Plum Alley invested in Mary Lou Jepson’s company delivering real-time, accurate information to first responders enabling critical, time-sensitive patient care for Stroke & Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Record Year of Follow-on Investments & Impact

Plum Alley’s portfolio companies had an incredibly strong 2021 with a record year of fundraising and mark-ups. Our portfolio companies raised a total $725M of funding with $400M raised in follow-on rounds led by new investors at higher valuations. 2021 saw a few notable raises with Mammoth Biosciences reaching unicorn status with their $150M Series D round. Einride raised an oversubscribed $110M Series B round. Ashvattha Therapeutics raised a $45M Series B while One Concern expanded their relationship with Sompo with $60M capital raised. And, our portfolio company Evrnu raising $15M Series B.

Our portfolio companies saw breakout success with major new customer contracts, partnerships and financial milestones, while also achieving meaningful outcomes for the planet, humanity and our health and well-being. We marked the year by publishing our inaugural Intentional Investing Report, which outlines our Plum Alley framework for investing with intention and features the meaningful ways our portfolio companies are impacting billions of lives from the environment and health to education and jobs.

Portfolio Companies in the News 🗞

• Einride has launched in the US and signed several new customers and partnerships including GE and Bridgestone. The Company is preparing to raise an additional priced round of capital to further accelerate the Company’s growth and expansion plans in the US, including fulfilling several large new commercial contracts. Some great content: US Launch Video, Forbes: Einride & GE Partnership Generating 1,000 Jobs, Forbes: Einride Partners with Bridgestone
• Mammoth Biosciences recently secured partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $691M, to support Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) in the development of therapies for genetic diseases.
• Biobot Analytics detects COVID spike reaching historic levels in Boston via wastewater data analytics platform, and is now detecting variants around the country — Boston, Miami, Denver.
• Helaina’s founder and CEO Laura Katz has been named Forbes 30 Under 30 2022 in the Food & Drink category.
• Bitwise founder Irma Olguin Jr.’s Ted Talk on “The tech-forward rejuvenation of the ‘underdog’ cities.
• Evrnu announced raising of their $15M Series B

Events 🙋🏽‍♀️

This year we hosted a wide range of thought leadership engaging 700+ community members to learn more about cutting edge areas of innovation in our portfolio and beyond.

• In April, we hosted an event featuring commentary from CB Insights on 5G and Edge Computing in Big Tech and the White Space. Watch the replay here.
• In August, Plum Alley and Buck Institute for Research on Aging hosted an event on Female Reproductive Longevity & Equality featuring Dr. Jennifer Garrison. Watch the replay here.
• In September, we hosted an event featuring three trailblazing women in Digital Assets and NFTs for a special discussion on the latest areas of innovation and transformation. Watch the replay here.
• Plum Alley now has a DAF (Donor Advised Fund) with Impact Assets that can accept funds that can in turn be invested in our Fund or other activities related to supporting women in the STEM fields. In October, we hosted an educational session on how you can use your DAF and IRA to invest with Plum Alley. Watch the replay here.
• We hosted a virtual event in November on Climate Tech Trends and Pioneers with Silicon Valley Bank featuring three pioneering founders and a discussion on the next sectors for disruption. Watch replay here and our Medium post here.
• In December, we hosted Michael Cembalest, Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy for J.P. Morgan Asset Management for A Look Ahead: 2022 with an in-depth discussion on inflation, supply chains, labor shortages and the implications for venture investing. Medium post here. Highlight Video here.

Andrea Turner Moffitt, Plum Alley Investments and Michael Cembalest, JP Morgan

Awards and New Hires 🎉

We’ve expanded our team significantly, with two new team members — Louise Kushner, Head of Communications, and Alicia Zheng, Operations Associate.

Early this fall, Our CEO and Founder, Deborah Jackson was recognized in the Forbes Women 50 Over 50 List for Investing. And, we are proud to highlight that Frances Walton received The Lifetime Achievement Award at the CDFA Virtual National Summit on November 4 to honor excellence, leadership, and the creative use of development finance tools.

SERIOUS ABOUT 2022!

While we have celebrated big successes, we have faced challenges too. We are thankful for our founders and our community investing alongside us as we put money towards the technologies we want to see solving the hardest questions to make our planet safer and more fair.

The Plum Alley Team