💸 Check Warner's Ada Ventures Launches £63M Second Fund to Back Founders Addressing Inclusivity & Diversity
FemWealth Issue #151
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In today’s edition: Check Warner’s Ada Ventures closed its £63M second fund to back founders addressing inclusivity and diversity; co-founded and led by Anh-Tho Chuong, Lago raised $22M for its open-source billing platform; founded and led by Laura Du, The New Club raised $3.1M to build a professional network for senior-level women engineers; and more in women-led startups and VC.
Get in touch at femwealth@substack.com.
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded and co-led by Francesca (Check) Warner, Ada Ventures held the final close of its £63 million second fund to back founders addressing inclusivity and diversity.
The London-based firm plans to invest between £250,000 and £1.5 million in Pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups in areas such as climate equity, economic empowerment, and healthy aging. It has already backed 12 investments from the second fund, including Alive, BlackBear, Glowb, Greenwork, Materials Nexus, MultiOmic, Boldr, and Juno Bio.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last five years to develop the systems and processes to turn our ambition to build a truly diverse and inclusive fund into reality.
Strong returns are strongly correlated with inclusive investment. We want other funds to copy this blueprint.
The excuse that diverse talent isn’t ‘out there’ is a cop out. We have proven that you can build a thriving, inspiring portfolio of diverse founders building breakthrough products and hugely valuable businesses.” - Check Warner, Co-Founding Partner at Ada Ventures, via Tech.eu)
LPs in the new fund include British Business Bank, The University of Edinburgh, Big Society Capital, Legal & General Capital, Atomico, The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Molten Ventures, and founder investors, such as Taavet Hinrikus (founder of Wise), and Illusian (the family office of Ilkka Paananen, co-founder and CEO of Supercell).
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Serenity Kids Raises $52 Million in Series B Round - Co-founded by Serenity Carr, Serenity Kids, a US-based shelf-stable pouched baby food brand, raised $52 million in Series B funding. Stride Consumer Partners led the growth round.
Sealed Raises $30M in Funding - Co-founded and led by Lauren Salz, Sealed is a residential energy efficiency startup. The New York-based company raised $30 million in funding. Keyframe Capital led the round, with additional support from Cyrus Capital, CityRock, and Fifth Wall.
Lago, a Paris-based open source billing platform, banks $22M - Co-founded and led by Anh-Tho Chuong, Lago offers an open-source billing platform. The Paris-based company raised $22 million across two rounds of funding. Investors include FirstMark, SignalFire, Y Combinator, New Wave, Addition, Script, and angels.
How An Organic Baby-Food Company Raised $20 Million, Despite The Venture Capital Downturn - Founded and led by Jessica Sturzenegger, Amara is an organic baby food brand. The San Francisco-based company announced an oversubscribed $20 million Series B funding round from HumanCo Investments, Melitas Venture Capital, and Touch Capital.
Lily AI Closes $20M Series B-1 Funding Round - Co-founded by Purva Gupta and Sowmiya Chocka Narayanan, Lily AI is a retail technology platform specialising in AI solutions for retailers and brands. The US startup secured a $20 million Series B round led by Conductive Ventures. Counterpart Ventures, Cendana Capital, Transform Capital, Sorenson Capital, and NEA also pitched in.
ShopMy lands $18.5M to help influencers earn more money from promoting products - Co-founded by Tiffany Lopinsky, ShopMy is a marketing platform for content creators to connect with brands and monetize their content. The US company raised $18.5 million in a funding round led by Inspired Capital. AlleyCorp, Scott Belsky (Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer), Jennifer Fleiss (Rent the Runway co-founder), and Rand Currier (Granite co-founder and COO) also joined.
Kaedim Raises $15M in Series A Funding - Co-founded and led by Konstantina Psoma, Kaedim streamlines the 3D creative process for game developers and interactive entertainment creators. The San Francisco startup raised a $15 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional support from Pioneer Fund.
What Is Your Company’s Credit Score? A New AI Startup from Unicorn Founders Wants Businesses to Know Their ‘Worth’ - Co-founded and co-led by Stax Payments founder Suneera Madhani, Worth AI offers an AI-powered financial underwriting and risk management platform. The US company raised $12 million in Pre-Seed funding.
Siolta Therapeutics Raises $12 Million in Series C Financing for Clinical Development - Co-founded and led by Dr. Nikole E. Kimes, Siolta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech company developing microbiome-based treatments for allergic diseases in the areas of maternal and infant health. The US company raised a $12 million Series C round co-led by SymBiosis and Khosla Ventures. Previous investors Time Ventures, Seventure, and Global Brain also joined.
Emerging from stealth, SAPI secures £7.5M equity fundraising for small business lending - Co-founded and led by Mai Le, SAPI enables payment companies to offer business loans and other financing products to their clients. The UK company closed a £7.5 million equity fundraising round from Passion Capital and high-profile angel investors.
Kolet makes travel eSIM cards easier to navigate - Co-founded by Anne-Carole Coen, Kolet is a next-gen eSIM provider targeting the travel sector. The Paris-based company raised $5.5 million from Daphni and 9900 Capital.
Stell helps engineers focus on building, not paperwork - Co-founded by Malory McLemore (CEO) and Anne Wen (COO), Stell provides a tool for requirements management to enable teams to track, verify, and validate requirements on complex projects. The US startup closed a $4 million Seed round led by Long Journey Ventures and Cyan & Scott Banister. Third Prime, Wischoff Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, Forward Deployed VC, Fulcrum Venture Group, and a group of angel investors also participated.
Nest Health picks up $4M in seed extension funding to build out at-home primary care for families - Co-founded by Dr. Rebekah Gee (CEO) and Rebecca Kavoussi (COO), Nest Health provides in-home and virtual care to families. The US-based startup raised $4 million in a Seed extension. SpringTide led the round, joined by Alumni Ventures, Ochsner Ventures, and others.
Kravata raises $3.6M to expand in Latin America - Co-founded by Juliana Montes, Kravata enables Latin American customers to integrate web3 services into their offerings. The Bogotá, Colombia-based startup raised a $3.6 million round from investors including Volt Capital, Framework Ventures, Magma Partners, SIMMA Capital, and Circle Ventures.
Work & Mother Raises $3.5 Million for Its Full-Service Mother’s Room Amenity and Companion Application - Founded and led by Abbey Donnell, Work & Mother provides office lactation suites. The US-based startup raised $3.5 million in Seed funding from Building Ventures, The Artemis Fund, Claritas Capital, Second Century Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.
The New Club Raises $3.1M To Build Next-Gen Professional Network Centered Around Female Engineering Leaders - Founded and led by Laura Du, The New Club is building a professional network for senior-level women engineers. The San Francisco startup raised a $3.1 million round co-led by Sierra Ventures and Afore Capital, joined by Operator Collective, Precursor Ventures, and Dragonfly Capital.
Another Tomorrow Raises $2 Million (WWD $) - Founded by Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Another Tomorrow is a sustainable ready-to-wear brand. The US-based company raised $2 million in Series A funding from Una Terra.
French startup Nijta hopes to protect voice privacy in AI use cases - Co-founded by Nathalie Vauquier, Nijta provides AI-powered speech anonymization technology. The Lille, France-based startup raised €2 million in funding from various sources, including Elaia and Finovam Gestion.
Smartschool's AI assistant tutor bags $1.5M Pre-Seed - Co-founded by Agata Mroczkowska, Smartschool offers an AI assistant designed to help students in the US prepare for the SAT exam. The Polish and US-founded edtech company headquartered in San Francisco raised $1.5 million in a Pre-Seed round from Inovo VC, The Explorer Fund, and angel investors.
Vini Mini Raises €500K in Seed Funding to Prevent Food Allergies in Children - Co-founded by Jozien Boersma and Laurie Lancee, Vini Mini develops nutritional products and supplements that safely introduce allergens to infants. The Amsterdam-based startup raised €500,000 in Seed funding The funding round includes investments from APX, Rabobank, Antler, Vrederijk Investments, the Donor Impact Investment Fund, The Angel Initiative, and healthcare entrepreneur and investor Irene Groenink.
VC: DeepTechXL raises €110M, a boost for Dutch deeptech startups - Co-led by Teska van Vuren, DeepTechXL, an Eindhoven, Netherlands-based venture builder announced a €110 million investment fund. It will back companies developing complex technologies, including photonics, mechanical engineering, semiconductors, and quantum computing.
As European dynamism gathers momentum, Elaia and partners double down with new deep tech fund - Co-led by Anne-Sophie Carrese, Elaia held the first closing of €60 million of its third deep tech seed fund (targeted at €120 million).
How to develop promising talent in VC
“Diversity has to come in all shapes and sizes; it’s not just about gender. To change that status quo, we have to change the narrative. So let us start with mentorship so that we can stand on the shoulders of giants.” - Evgenia Plotnikova, General Partner at Dawn Capital (via Sifted)
Inspirational Quote ✨
“An intelligent failure occurs as part of what you believe is a meaningful opportunity to advance toward a valued goal.” - Amy C. Edmondson, Professor at Harvard Business School and author of “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well”
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth