New VC fund for women & other female founder news: Nov 2021
This monthly series showcases some of the best news for female founders.
Skim the news below to learn about the latest news, funding, opportunities and thought leadership for female founders.
Women-only VC fund banks $45m and targets $100m fund. “We often speak with female founders whose interaction with male-led VC firms ends up with a ‘Well, I wouldn’t use that product,’ ” says Alexandra Clunies-Ross, portfolio manager of Artesian’s new Female Leaders VC Fund. In partnership with Scale Investors, Australian-based venture investors Artesian has closed the first $45 million tranche of a new $100 million fund that will only back startups run by women developing technology specifically for women.” Read more in the AFR.
Meet 8 Female Founders Disrupting The $600 Billion Menopause Market. Earlier this year, Female Founders Fund conducted research concluding that “responding to the needs of women experiencing menopause is a $600 billion opportunity for companies”. Read more in Forbes.
Female founders are making a buzzing, venture-backed comeback. “But the gender gap in startup fundraising is closing slightly, new PitchBook data shows. Female-founded companies raised $40.4 billion across 2,661 deals through the first three quarters of 2021, almost doubling 2019’s total of $23.7 billion and over 10 times 2011’s total of $3.6 billion.” Read more in TechCrunch.
The women smashing the startup stereotypes. It’s not always easy for women to launch their own business, but there are some secrets to raising capital. Read more in The Australian.
Funding for startups founded by women is surging. “This year, startups with female founders have fared much better. They have raised more venture capital dollars and have executed more exits at greater values than at any point in the last decade. Startups with a female founder raised more than $40 billion through September, almost double the amount invested in companies founded by women in all of 2020 or 2019.” Read more in The New York Times.
Home remodeling platform Houzz hires Goldman for IPO. “Houzz Inc, the U.S. online home remodeling platform that capitalized on the boom in renovations during the COVID-19 pandemic, has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to prepare for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said.” Founded in 2009 by Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen, Houzz operates a marketplace that is used by home renovation professionals to find home remodeling and improvement projects. Read more in Reuters.
Rent the Runway Aims for Nearly $1.3 Billion Valuation in IPO. The company, founded in 2009, lets users rent and shop second-hand clothes and accessories such as handbags and jewellery in over 18,000 styles from more than 750 designer brands. It also allows customers to rent and shop home goods. Read more in Business of Fashion. Read ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ in Forbes.
Melbourne-based mobile ordering platform Mr Yum lands $65M (USD) led by Tiger Global. “Mr Yum announced an $8 million USD post-seed round just seven months ago in April and its Series A brings its total funding so far to $74 million (about $103 million AUD). Founded in Melbourne, Mr Yum now has offices across Australia and in the United States and the United Kingdom, too.” Read more in Tech Crunch.
“The raising is Australia’s third-largest Series A and the largest for a female-led company. The success of the raising reflects how much Australian companies are now respected on international stages, Ms Teo said, with many US investors actively seeking out local startups to add to their portfolios.” Reach more in the SMH.Indra Nooyi, Former CEO of PepsiCo, on Nurturing Talent in Turbulent Times. “Former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Noori, to discuss her ideas for how the corporate world needs to evolve. She pushes for leaders to realize the importance of their role in setting the tone to achieve equitable workplaces.” Read more in HBR.
Black Female Founder Overcomes VC Resistance To Help Content Creators Monetize Their Work. “Tiffany Kelly, founder and CEO of Curastory, makes it easy for sports and fitness content creators to create video content and monetize it.” Read more in Forbes.
Meet the incredible 23 female founders presenting at the Atto accelerator’s Demo Day. The class of 2021 class, Kate Kendall’s third cohort, takes the total number of female founders Atto has backed to 74. “This batch is gearing up to be the best and biggest yet with the startups working on everything from NFTs and the metaverse to tackling social isolation in the remote world, and from crypto charity payments to skincare solutions for women of colour,” Kate Kendall said. Read more in Startup Daily.