2022: Top VC deals for women-led startups
FemWealth Lists
An overview of some of the most notable VC deals for women-led startups in 2022:
Anthropic’s quest for better, more explainable AI attracts $580M - Co-led by Daniela Amodei, Anthropic is an AI safety and research company.
Southeast Asian payments infrastructure unicorn Xendit banks $300M - Tessa Wijaya is the co-founder and COO of Xendit.
CEO of Unicorn Stax Says She’ll Go Head to Head With Stripe - The subscription-based payments processor, co-founded and led by Suneera Madhani, has raised $245B in a Series D round at a valuation of more than $1B
Colombian proptech Habi reaches unicorn status with $200M raise co-led by SoftBank and Homebrew - Habi, a Bogota-based proptech, co-founded and led by Brynne McNulty Rojas, has closed on $200M in a Series C funding round co-led by Homebrew and SoftBank Latin America Fund. It is the only LatAm unicorn with a female founder and CEO. Habi’s mission is to empower low- and middle-income consumers in the housing sector by providing access to liquidity and information “in a market where data is limited and the majority of homes are not listed online.”
Entrepreneur First raises $158M at a $560M valuation, adding Stripe’s Collison brothers to its list of backers - Co-founded by Alice Bentinck, Entrepreneur First - an entrepreneurship platform, community and atypical investor run like a startup - has raised $158 million in a Series C round. Its portfolio includes over 500 companies worth around $10 billion.
Lessons From the Newest Unicorn Startup: Be Frugal, and Drink Costco Coffee - Vanta, a data security compliance startup founded and led by Christina Cacioppo, has reached unicorn status this week after raising $100 million at a valuation of $1.6 billion, less than a year after raising its first institutional capital.
Airwallex raises $100M to power cross-border business banking, valuation stays flat at $5.5B - The Hong Kong/Australia-based startup, co-founded by Lucy Liu, provides cross-border banking and other financial services for businesses. It has raised $100 million in a Series E-2 extension.
Wheel raises $150M in quest to move beyond “telehealth 101” to virtual-first care - the virtual care provider is co-founded and led by Michelle Davey
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.
KKR Values Behavioral-Health Startup Brightline at $705 Million - The provider of virtual behavioral-health services to children and their families, founded by Naomi Allen, has raised $105 million from investors led by KKR & Co.
Ada Health raises $90m, plans further US expansion - Co-founded in 2011 by married cofounders Daniel Nathrath and Claire Novorol
Kate Ryder's Maven Clinic Announces Its Second Act with $90 million in Series E Funding - Founded and led by Kate Ryder, Maven Clinic is the largest telehealth network in women’s and family health.
This Stem Cell Manufacturing Startup Just Raised An $80 Million War Chest To Revolutionize Medicine - Dr. Nabiha Saklayen is the founder of Cellino Biotech.
Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram's AR Surgery Platform Proximie Raises $80 Million in Series C
Sequoia leads $80 million funding round for Swiss expense management start-up Yokoy - The company co-founded by Melanie Gabriel (CMO) plans to further expand in Europe.
Contentstack raises $80M to grow its headless CMS platform for the enterprise - Neha Sampat is the co-founder and CEO of the Austin, Texas-based startup.
New Latino media startup launches with historic $80M raise - Latina activists and entrepreneurs Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia have launched the Latino Media Network with $80 million funding. This is one of the largest capital raises for a Latina-owned and operated startup in the US.
Tech-enabled homebuilder Homebound raises $75M Series C led by Khosla - Homebound, co-founded and led by Nikki Pechet, started out to help people rebuild after California wildfires destroyed their houses in 2018. It now aims to address the housing shortage.
Elizabeth Stark’s Lightning Labs Raises $70 Million To ‘Bitcoinize’ The U.S. Dollar - The startup co-founded and led by Elizabeth Stark plans to turn the Bitcoin blockchain into a network capable of transacting trillions of dollars in volume annually. Read more here.
Mathilde Collin’s Front Secures $65M Series D at $1.7B Valuation
Republic’s metaverse real estate arm spins off, rebrands as Everyrealm - Everyrealm, led by Janine Yorio, just raised $60 million - one of the largest Series A raises for a company led by a female CEO - to become the “gateway to the entire metaverse ecosystem.” Arianna Simpson of a16z led the round as a new investor.
Women-Centered Gaming Startup Raises $55 Million To Scale And Grow Istanbul Into A Tech Hub - Spyke, co-founded and led by Turkish entrepreneur Rina Onur Sirinoglu has received $55 million in funding, the largest seed round ever raised by a female CEO in Turkey.
Ellevest Raises $53M in Series B Funding Round Backed by a Powerful Roster of Women Investors - Co-founded and led by Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest is a New York-based financial company focused on women. It offers digital investing tools, banking services, career and money coaching, and private wealth management for high net worth clients. The round, co-led by BMO and Contour Venture Partners, included funding from women-led investors, Halogen Ventures, Cleo Capital, The Venture Collective, and the LGBTQIA+ investment syndicate Gaingels. 90% of the Series B round’s investors are women and underrepresented investors, contributing 68% of total funds. Read more here.
UK’s Oxford Quantum Circuits snaps up $47M Series A for ‘QaaS’ - With the fresh funding the company co-founded and led by Ilana Wisby plans to develop its patented 3D processor architecture Coaxmon, and the quantum-computing-as-a-service that will run on it.
Resilience raises $45 million for its cancer care startup - the startup co-founded and co-led by Celine Lazorthes is on a mission to improve the treatment journey for cancer patients and also help health practitioners and caregivers.
Topi raises $45M to power hardware subscriptions for B2B merchants - topi, a Berlin-based startup co-founded by Charlotte Pallua and Estelle Merle, has launched its hardware-as-a-service platform to enable businesses to rent tech equipment instead of owning it.
Amira Yahyaoui wants Mos to be a ‘radical’ fintech startup - Amira Yahyaoui’s Mos raised $40M in a new Series B funding round at a $400M valuation, led by Tiger Global and joined by returning investors Sequoia, Khaled Helioui, Expa, Emerson Collective, and Lux Capital, Mos is undoubtedly on an exciting and promising path. Read more here.
Sevetri Wilson Defies Odds As Black Woman Startup Founder, Leads Resilia To $35 Million Capital Raise - Founded and led by Sevetri Wilson, US-based Resilia sells software that helps nonprofit organizations manage their operations. Panoramic Ventures and Framework Venture Partners co-led the series B funding round, with participation from Mucker Capital, SoftBank Group’s SB Opportunity Fund, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Fund, and Chloe Capital.