💌 2022 in FemWealth and the Outlook for 2023
FemWealth Issue #92
Hey FemWealth Friend!
Welcome to this special end-of-year edition which highlights some of the most powerful stories and moments of the year and offers a glimpse into what 2023 might bring for women-led startups, venture capital, women’s health, and more.
2022 has been marked by major geopolitical, economic, and socio-political crises that significantly impacted the tech and venture capital industries.
For a socio-political perspective, read FW Wrapped: Global stories that defined 2022
Amid a wider market correction and uncertain macroeconomic conditions, female-founded companies in the US appear to have not been disproportionately hurt by the decline in VC market activity, according to PitchBook data. Companies with at least one female founder have raised ~ $38 billion in VC funding over +3,500 deals, while startups with only female founders have raised $4.3 billion over +900 deals. Despite sharp declines from 2021, they are still the second-highest annual totals on record.
Funding for female-founded companies has declined year-over-year, but the share of female co-founded VC capital represents 15.4% of total US VC funding as of December 2022, the highest it’s been since 2017. By contrast, female-only founded startups have raised only 2%, the lowest it’s been since 2016. | Read more: Female founders take the good with the bad in a challenging 2022
In Europe, all-female founding teams accounted for 6% of all funding rounds in 2022 but only 1% of the total funding raised, according to Atomico’s State of European Tech report. It was also 1% in 2021, down from 3% in 2020 - a worrying downward trend potentially showing that VCs being more risk-averse hits diverse founders hardest.
Here is a sneak peek into some of the many stories of the year worth celebrating
Women-led companies that attained valuations > $1B:
Anthropic, an AI safety and research company co-led by Daniela Amodei
Athelas, a softer solutions provider for healthcare organisations, co-founded by Deepika Bodapati
Chief, a private network of executive women founded by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan
Habi, a proptech company co-founded and led by Brynne McNulty Rojas
Front, a customer communication hub co-founded and led by Mathilde Collin
Globalization Partners, an AI-driven Global Employment Platform, co-founded by Nicole Sahin
Incredible Health, co-founded and led by Iman Abuzeid
Insider, a marketing tech vendor co-founded and led by Hande Cilingir
Relex Solutions, a supply chain and retail planning platform co-founded by Johanna Småros
Stax, a subscription-based payments processor, co-founded and led by Suneera Madhani
TransferMate’s a global payments platform co-founded and led by Sinead Fitzmaurice
Vanta, a data security compliance startup founded and led by Christina Cacioppo
Xendit, a payments infrastructure company co-founded by Tessa Wijaya
Yuga Labs, a blockchain technology company that develops NFTs and digital collectibles; previously led by Nicole Muniz
Notable raises by women-led startups:
Alice Bentinck’s Entrepreneur First - an entrepreneurship platform, community and atypical investor run like a startup - raised $158 million in a Series C round
Michelle Davey’s Wheel raised $150M in a quest to move beyond “telehealth 101” to virtual-first care
Diliara Lupenko’s Impress raised $125M Series B to digitize orthodontics
Kate Ryder’s Maven Clinic - the largest telehealth network in women’s and family health - raised $90 million in Series E
Dr. Nabiha Saklayen’s Cellino Biotech, a stem cell manufacturing startup, raised an $80 million Series A round
In a record-breaking year, female investors have continued to raise new VC funds throughout 2023 across many stages, industries, and geographies:
Mary Meeker and Juliet de Baubigny’s Bond Capital raised $2.5 billion for its third growth equity fund
Katie Haun’s Haun Ventures raised $1.5B to back Web3 companies; it’s the largest fund raised by a solo venture capitalist
Kirsten Green’s Forerunner closed a new $1B fund to invest in consumer businesses
Katelin Holloway’s 776 closed a $500M fund to back Web3, climate tech, space tech, food tech, and SaaS businesses
Natalie Massenet’s Imaginary Ventures announced its $500 Million Fund III to invest in consumer tech
Li Jin’s Variant has raised $450m across Seed + Opportunity funds to continue backing Web3 startups
Ophelia Brown’s Blossom Capital raised its third fund of $432M to invest across fintech, consumer, and Web3
Linda Rottenberg’s Endeavor Catalyst raised over $290M to back impact-focused startups in emerging markets
Collab SOS, led by Sophie Bakalar, raised a $200M fund to invest in early-stage climetech startups
Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures raised $111M to invest in early-stage startups across different verticals, including Web3
Marina Hadjipateras and Soraya Darabi’s TMV raised $64M for its second fund to invest in the care economy, sustainable solutions, transportation, financial inclusion, and the future of work
Maria Velissaris’ SteelSky raised $50M to invest in women’s health startups
A significant number of funds aiming to back startups with at least one female co-founder have launched this year. The list includes London-based Pact - led by Reem Mobassaleh Wyndham, Tong Gu, and Monik Pham; Copenhagen-based Unconventional Ventures - led by Thea Messel and Nora Bavey; and Vienna-based Fund F - led by Lisa-Marie Fassl and Nina Wöss.
In Africa, the women-led tech ecosystem is growing strong, fueled by capital raised by emerging VCs, including Eunice Ajim, founder of Ajim Capital, and Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder of Aruwa Capital Management.
We must keep momentum in women-led startups and venture capital. As a reminder, female investors account for just 16.1% of VC decision-makers in the US, and 95.5% of VC firms have a majority male population of decision-makers.
Women’s Health: The Wake-Up Moment
As noted by leading women’s health company Tia, led by Carolyn Witte - in 2022, “we finally saw the industry wake up to something that women have known all along: women’s healthcare isn’t just about getting pregnant or delivering a baby; it’s a continuous journey that spans our lifetime.”
It’s been wonderful to see many women-led health tech companies raise funding rounds, from pre-seed to Series E, and launch products for specific areas of women’s and family health, including hormonal health (e.g., Inne, led by Eirini Rapti), mental health (e.g., Little Otter, founded by mother and daughter Dr. Helen Egger and Rebecca Egger), reproductive longevity (e.g., Gameto, led by Dina Radenkovic).
There is also increased attention to women’s health fundamental research, as seen in the recently launched Repro Grants, an initiative to speed up funding for female reproductive science backed by Fifty Years.
Read a deep-dive FemWealth Springboard interview with Sara Kemppainen, Women’s Health Research Advocate and Leader of Repro Grants, a Fifty Years initiative here.
Check out FW: Most notable deals in women’s & family health in 2022
Outlook for 2023
Get a glimpse into what 2023 might bring to women-led startups, venture capital, women’s health and the creator economy, and how you can prepare for it:
Pippa Lamb, Partner, Sweet Capital
“Focus on what the unique aspect is that you bring to your business. Communicate it clearly and write a straightforward plan that connects you to your vision, explains why the problem you want to solve is significant and has attractive unit economics. In 2023, proving that you have a road to profitability will be at the top of investors’ minds. Stand out by telling them before they ask.”
Also, check Pippa’s takeaways for 2023 here.
Triin Linamagi, Founding Partner, Sie Ventures
“Despite the unconscious bias female founders and fund managers often face in fundraising, I believe we will be seeing more evidence in the coming years that funds managed by women and companies built by women are outperforming non-diverse teams. More investors will double down on diversity in 2023 because it’s the smart thing to do due to overlooked opportunities and underserved markets.
What do I wish for female founders? Resilience and strength, don’t forget your mission, and don’t get too bogged down on being a female founder. Focus on your business and your customers, think big and keep your focus when you execute, success will follow.”
Dr. Lynae Brayboy, Chief Medical Officer, Clue
“In 2023, one of the trends I see occurring is an increase of awareness around fertility technology and education. As a fertility specialist, I know the path to parenthood is not always straightforward.
More people will leverage tools like Clue Conceive to advocate for themselves and be the keepers of their own fertility data. You will also see more healthcare professionals incorporate tools like this into their patient discussions. Reproductive health empowerment through data is Clue’s greatest mission, and 2023 will see more public interest in the cause.”
Lorin Gu, Founding Partner & Linda Guan, Partner Healthcare, Recharge Capital
“Women’s health companies have developed a global mindset and will pursue the path of least regulatory resistance. This will lead to a faster transition from clinical trials to products in-market as US startups turn to new regions with faster regulatory approvals than the FDA.”
Bérénice Magistretti, founding partner of Loop Ventures & creator of the #NextGenVC series
“What I really hope and wish is that people stop using the male pronoun when talking about a hypothetical founder or CEO. I’m so tired of hearing “When a founder launches his startup” or “As a CEO, he should be able to do X, Y and X.” Can we just use a more neutral word, like “individual”? As long as we keep perpetuating the use of male pronouns when referring to executive positions, we’ll never reach true equity in tech.
Predictions: I think 2023 will be a huge year for women’s health. Not only will we see founders and investors doubling down on issues like menopause and endometriosis, but we’ll start seeing a whole new sector of healthcare opening up beyond female-specific conditions. Think bone health, hormonal health, cardiovascular conditions. Women have different organs, hormones and physiologies, so why whouldn’t we get more tailored treatments?”
Paola Vivoli, Early-stage investor at Speedinvest & host of The New Creator Economy
“(…) we are witnessing increasing excitement around celebrity- and creator-founded brands. Athletes, actors, and musicians are building on their already-established brands by leveraging social media, which allows them to build direct relationships with their fans and customers at scale.
With over 40% of Gen-Z and Millennials saying they prefer celebrity-founded brands, in particular, celebrity-founded beauty and personal care brands are proliferating. These brands are gathering higher Instagram engagement (13%) vs. non-celebrity founded brands (3%), with one major example being American shapewear and clothing brand SKIMS, which was co-founded by Kim Kardashian.
However, let’s not forget that a lot has to do with the way people (and in this case, celebrities) present themselves online and are able able to attract the right audience in a genuine and authentic way. In this case, celebrity-founded brands particularly resonate if the celebrity has some sort of expertise in the products they are selling. In the case of SKIMS, Kim has always been a user of shapewear apparel but could never find the perfect one until she created SKIMS.”
🎁 FemWealth Gifts
How has 2022 been for you? What trends do you predict for 2023? What are your hopes and wishes? Would love to hear from you at femwealth@substack.com.
Stay tuned for more exciting news in 2023!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth