Anna Raptis, founder and CEO at Mexico-based venture capital firm Amplifica Capital has closed the firm’s first debut fund with $11 million in capital commitments.
Founded in 2020, Amplifica focuses on “gender lens investing.” It mainly backs teams with female founders, co-founders, or companies that provide goods and services focused on women.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the VC ecosystem in Latin America, and we want to be the fund that the best female entrepreneurs in tech, in Latin America, reach out to first.” - Anna Raptis
Amplifica already has 10 companies in its portfolio, including Mujer Financiera, an Argentine company providing tools for financial inclusion for women.
The fund’s LP base has 100 investors, including Mexico Ventures, Grupo Herdez, Maria Ariza, CEO of BIVA, Melanie Devlyn, CEO of Devlyn Holdings, Daniel Undurraga and Oskar Hjertonsson, founders of Cornershop, and Loreanne Garcia co-founder of Kavak.
Lara Hodgson, Co-founder, President, and CEO of Now®
Read all about her early start into entrepreneurship, how she nurtures her relationship with her co-founder, and her advice for underrepresented entrepreneurs here.
💸 Authenticx secures $20M to help healthcare companies listen to their customers better - The US-based conversational intelligence company is led by Amy Brown. The Series B funding round was led by Blue Heron Capital, with participation from Beringea, Indiana Next Level Fund/50 South Capital Advisors, High Alpha, Mutual Capital Partners, Signal Peak Ventures, Allos Ventures, Elevate Ventures, and M25.
💸 Luxury fashion meets blockchain on Syky, the Seven Seven Six-backed web3 platform - Founded and led by Alice Delahunt, the company aims to serve as an incubator, marketplace, and social community for the next generation of fashion designers and consumers. It secured a $9 million Series A investment, led by Seven Seven Six and joined by Brevan Howard Digital, Leadout Capital, First Light Capital Group, and Polygon Ventures. Read more in Vogue.
💸 Sunfish banks $4M for fertility financing (Axios Pro $) - TheSanta Monica, Calif.-based fertility financing support startup, co-founded and led by Angela Rastegar, raised $3.8m in seed funding. Walkabout Ventures led the round and was joined by Hannah Grey VC, and Fiat Ventures.
💸 Huler Raises £2M in Funding - Nicky Hoyland is the co-founder and CEO of the UK-based provider of a fully personalised employee experience platform. The funding round was led by Mercia’s EIS funds, the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund.
💸 Indian Metaverse Platform Trezi Raises $2M in Series A Funding - The metaverse platform, co-founded and led by Tithi Tewari, connects designers, architects, and construction engineers with product manufacturers. It has closed a Series A funding round of over $2 million led by World V and YourNest Venture Capital. Auxano Capital and She Capital also participated.
“What really defines Waabi is that we saw the super capital-intensive approach that is very slow, and instead we said we need to build different technology so we can get there faster and in a much more scalable fashion.” - Raquel Urtasun
🎤 The 2023 Pitch HearstLab event offers a chance for early-stage women-led startups to pitch live in LA on May 9 and win $100K! Apply by March 1.
💸 Sophia Amoruso launches Trust Fund for founders - Sophia Amoruso, the creator of Nasty Gal and Girlboss, launched a new venture firm to back digital consumer companies. It is targeting a $5 million debut. LPs include a16z partners Marc Andreessen, Andrew Chen, and Chris Dixon, entrepreneur Ev Williams, and investors Ryan Hoover and Cleo Capital’s Sarah Kunst.
“I’ve seen the full gamut of what worked and what didn’t. It’s the not-so-great stuff that I can often help founders anticipate, or just avoid.” - Sophia Amoruso
“When the economy tanks, discrimination feels justified. Managers double down on what they perceive as ‘safe’ and ‘boring.’ Investing in women is still perceived as high-risk. LPs need to look beyond manager diversity and into their investment portfolios if we want to change this industry; 1.9% is deplorable.” - Ruth Foxe Blader, partner at Anthemis Group
“I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility,” she said. “The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.” - Jacinda Ardern
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