💸 Conscience VC Launches $10M Debut Fund to Back Early-Stage, Science-led Consumer Companies
FemWealth Issue #69
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
In the Spotlight ✨
Founded in 2020 by chemical engineer Ariana Thacker, Conscience VC has launched its debut $10 million fund to invest in science-led, IP-driven, and/or technically defensible companies.
On a mission to generate a positive and scalable impact on the world by partnering with technical founders, the firm will write checks up to $250,000 in predominantly pre-seed and seed stage companies across a broad range of industries from digital health to physical products in sectors like gaming. Its current geographic focus is the USA and Canada, with plans to eventually go global.
The firm’s portfolio already includes 17 companies. Approximately 50% of them are led by underrepresented founder(s).
“I realized I loved venture, I loved founders and I want to do that full time, all the time. I saw that as the highest leverage way to create impact and transitioned into working in a venture role.” - Ariana Thacker
Pitch here!
Read more: Conscience VC raises oversubscribed fund for consumer companies rooted in science
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: 💸 Barcelona’s Impress heads toward a $125M Series B round in its bid to digitize orthodontics - The startup co-founded by Diliara Lupenko (COO) has a presence in 130+ European cities spread across 8 countries.
💸 Founders Fund backs Pulley as it helps companies make better decisions about equity - The cap table and equity management startup, co-founded and led by Yin Wu, has announced its $40 million Series B round. The company’s tools and insights help founders and employees make more informed decisions about their equity ownership in relation to hiring and fundraising and also in compliance with taxation and accounting.
💸 Online donation platform Change helps charities fundraise in crypto - The startup co-founded and led by Sonia Nigam develops APIs to help companies and charities process donations. It has raised a $5 million seed round to double down into the crypto space.
💸 Croatia's digital fashion startup Tribute Brand raises $4.5 mln seed round - Founded and led by Gala Vrbanic, Tribute Brand is the world’s first direct-to-consumer digital fashion brand. Its mission is to “bring timeless fashion pieces into the next-gen digital platform, shaping the future of virtual style and self-expression.”
💸 Veteran digital health pros found virtual eating disorder care startup - Founded by Amanda D’Ambra and Joan Zhang, based on their personal experiences with eating disorders, Arise aims to provide education, care and long-term support from licensed providers and personalized care plans. The New York-based virtual eating disorder care platform has raised an oversubscribed seed funding round of $4 million led by BBG Ventures and Greycroft.
“There is so much complexity towards what contributed to the eating disorder, and it’s just simply not about just the food, and it’s not just about the body. I think the other really big thing is starting to shift away from, ‘Oh, this is a me problem,’ to seeing the broader systemic problem and how it contributes to this culture of disordered eating and eating disorders that has been created.” - Joan Zhang
💸 Bringing people together for lifelong learning, The Garden blooms with £3 million - The UK-based platform co-founded and led by Sophie Adelman brings together world-leading experts and academics to share their knowledge and insights with members of the general public through live and on-demand talks. The round was led by Index Ventures and Village Global, with participation from prominent angel investors, including Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart and Allison Stern, co-founder of Tubular Labs.
“While there’s been an explosion of online learning in the last decade, the overfocus on achievement-oriented learning misses a lot of people’s needs. The Garden opens a world of learning to people who want to feed their curiosity by exploring a fascinating range of topics in an enjoyable, accessible way with live engagement.” - Sophie Adelman
💸 Lilo nets €3 million to unveil invest-and-experience platform for fractional home ownership - Founded by Emily Chan, the fractional property ownership platform is targeted towards the class of creatives and young professionals across Europe.
“Real estate needs to be reimagined to better suit our increasingly versatile way of living. We’re creating a new asset class to achieve precisely that - collecting shares in our properties gives our members access to the most sought-after cities in the world, aided by our in-house sourcing and valuation expertise.” - Emily Chan
💸 SendSprint, by ex-Flutterwave executive, hits market with $5 flat fee for all international money transfers - Founded and led by Damisi Busari, the money transfer startup based in the UK, with operations in the US and Nigeria aims to connect the African Diaspora “to loved ones at home by enabling fast, simple and hassle-free international transfers,” via a gift-card service.
“We understand the connection that people have with their home countries and the importance of sending money and gifts home to support loved ones … Our service recognizes and reflects this.” - Damisi Busari
👏 2022 half-year update: Female founders remain resilient - During the first half of 2022, US startups with one or more female founders raised $20.8 billion of VC funding. This represents more than 93% of the deal value raised in the first half of 2021, a record year for VC funding for female founders in the US. All-female founded companies secured 6.9% of US VC deal count in 2022, a decade high.
VC/PE: 💸 Oak HC/FT Closes Fifth Fund at $1.94 Billion: Continuing our Legacy While Investing in The Future - The US-based venture firm co-founded by veteran investor Annie Lamont has closed its fifth and biggest to date fund with $1.94 billion in capital commitments. The outfit focuses on the healthcare and fintech sectors.
🙌 Despite an ‘unprecedented correction,’ Atomico’s newest partner wants to help European founders thrive - Laura Connell, previously a Principal at Balderton, has joined the London-based firm as its latest partner to work on growth-stage investments.
“We’ve all had a front row seat for what’s been really an unprecedented correction. I think that’s a product of normalization after the exuberance of 2020 and H1 (first half) 2021, and an era of cheap money, right? So in some ways, talking purely on a macro basis, the world [today] looks in some ways more normalized. And that correction, while painful, is also an opportunity for us as investors, and for the best founders to really show their true colours and get ahead of the pack.” - Laura Connell
Women’s Health: 👩🏽🦳 How to support menopausal people at work - Rebekah Brown, founder of menopause supplements startup MPowder, shares her top tips on how to support professionals going through menopause.
“We talk a lot about inclusivity, equality and gender balance in the workforce, but none of these can be achieved if those transitioning through menopause do not get the support they need.” - Rebekah Brown
⚖️ Gender Equality: EU startups boss: Diversity quotas are a ‘necessary step’ - EU’s innovation commissioner Mariya Gabriel reiterates her commitment to ensuring greater diversity in the continent’s startup ecosystem.
“Excellence should always stay the main principle… but at the same time, [quotas are] a necessary step.” - Mariya Gabriel
Science: 🔭 Meet the Woman Who Makes the James Webb Space Telescope Work - Features Dr. Jane Rigby, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Flight Center and operations project scientist for the $10-billion James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful off-world observatory yet built by humankind.
Fashion & Beauty: 👗 The Farfetch of adaptive fashion? High-end marketplace Adaptista’s big ambitions - Founded and led by Maria O’Sullivan-Abeyratne, Adaptista aims to become the “Farfetch of inclusive design and ethical e-commerce,” by bringing adaptive designs to the mainstream. The platform has recently launched with 12 brands.
“There needs to be a better understanding of how to bring products to market in a way that is both financially viable and inclusive. Brands need to move beyond the ‘us and them’ approach, which has led to tokenism. We built Adaptista as a fully accessible space, built and run by disabled people, so brands can showcase their products to an entire community that may never have considered them before.” - Maria O’Sullivan-Abeyratne
💄 Glossier’s new CEO on why she’s backing influencers, ending the DTC era and opening stores - Kyle Leahy shares her plans to take the brand forward after the founder Emily Weiss stepped down.
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
On the front lines, Ukrainian women are often the first responders - Women now account for about 22% of Ukraine’s military, many of them working as medics.
Digital Health Startups In A Post-Roe World - Deena Shakir, Partner at Lux Capital Carolyn Witte, co-founder and CEO at Tia Health discuss the future of digital health startups after the reversal of Roe vs. Wade in the US.
“There’s never been a more important time to talk about the moral and economic imperative to invest in women’s health.” - Carolyn Witte
Global Gender Gap Report 2022 - According to World Economic Forum’s newly published annual report, it will take another 132 years to close the global gender gap.
Thank you for reading FemWealth! 🥰 Wish you a fun week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth