💸 Cherryrock Capital Raises $172M Debut Fund to Back Underinvested Founders
FemWealth Issue #198
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In the Spotlight 💸
Founded and led by Stacy Brown-Philpot (former CEO of TaskRabbit) and Saydeah Howard (previously a Partner at True Ventures), Cherryrock Capital raised $172 million for its debut venture fund aiming to invest at the Series A and B stages in companies led by underinvested entrepreneurs. It will focus on sectors including digital health, enterprise SaaS, fintech, future of work, and B2B2C.
“I started Cherryrock Capital with my partner, Saydeah Howard, with a vision to change the face of wealth creation, by generating above-market returns for our limited partners through investments in the very best software companies. My journey to Silicon Valley and all things technology started 25 years ago when I attended business school at Stanford having written my admissions essay on becoming a venture investor. Applying my love for quantitative things to an industry where I felt I could have an impact was deeply compelling.” - Stacy Brown-Philpot, Founding Partner at Cherryrock Capital
Limited Partners include institutions such as Goldman Sachs Asset Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, MassMutual, Top Tier Capital Partners, Pivotal Ventures, and individuals including Mellody Hobson, Reid Hoffman, and Sheryl Sandberg.
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Thinking Machine Labs is ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s new startup - Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati officially launched her new startup Thinking Machine Labs with a mission to “build access to the knowledge and tools to make AI work for [people’s] unique needs and goals,” and to “make AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable”. Murati leads the company as CEO and is reportedly seeking about $1 billion in funding.
Legal tech startup Luminance, backed by the late Mike Lynch, raises $75M - Led by Eleanor Lightbody, Luminance Technologies is a legal AI platform that automates contract generation and negotiation for enterprises. The London-based startup raised $75 million in a Series C round led by Point72 Ventures Private Investments. Forestay Capital, RPS Ventures, Schroders Capital, March Capital, National Grid Partners, and Slaughter and May also participated.
Arize AI hopes it has first-mover advantage in AI observability - Co-founded by Aparna Dhinakaran, Arize is an AI observability platform that helps companies evaluate their AI products. The Berkeley, California-based company recently raised a $70 million Series C round led by Adams Street Partners with participation from M12, SineWave Ventures, OMERS Ventures, Foundation Capital, Battery Ventures, TCV, Swift VC, and others.
SmartSuite raises $38M to be the final word on enterprise collaboration - Co-founded by Tara Darbyshire, SmartSuite is a project management and collaboration platform. The California-based startup raised $38 million in funding. Canapi Ventures led the company’s $13 million Series A round, joined by Sorenson Capital and High Alpha. Co-founders Jon Darbyshire, Tara Darbyshire, and Peter Novosel led the $11 million and $14 million Seed rounds.
Cambridge GaN Devices secures €30.5 million to drive global growth in power semiconductor industry - Co-founded and led by Dr Giorgia Longobardi, Cambridge GaN Devices is a fabless semiconductor company designing, developing, and commercialising energy-efficient GaN (gallium nitride) power devices to make greener electronics possible. The Cambridge, UK-based company closed €30.5 million in Series C funding led by an undisclosed strategic investor with participation from British Patient Capital and existing investors Parkwalk, BGF, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Foresight Group, and IQ Capital.
AheadComputing Raises $21.5M Seed Round and Introduces Breakthrough Microprocessor Architecture Designed for Next Era of General-Purpose Computing - Co-founded and led by Debbie Marr, AheadComputing is building high-performance computer processors to enhance computing power for AI applications. The Portland, Oregon-based company raised $21.5 million in Seed funding led by Eclipse and joined by Maverick Capital, Fundomo, EPIQ Capital Group, and Jim Keller.
Unit Network raises $18M for decentralized platform enabling real-world and digital asset trading - Co-founded by Kat Miroshnikova, Unit Network is a decentralized financial ecosystem enabling the trading of real-world and digital assets through tokenization. The London and New York-based company raised $18 million in funding co-led by Blockchain Founders Fund and Outlier Ventures and joined by Cristina Venture, Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar, Joshua Seims, and others.
Subsense Emerges from Stealth with $17M in Seed Funding for a Non-Surgical Brain-Computer Interface - Founded and led by Tetiana Aleksandrova, Subsense is developing a non-surgical, nanoparticle-based bidirectional brain-computer interface. The Palo Alto, California-based neurotechnology startup raised $17 million in Seed funding led by Golden Falcon Capital.
Posterity Health raises $14M Series A: Male infertility treatment (Axios Pro $) - Led by Pamela Pure, Posterity Health is a male fertility startup. The Colorado-based startup raised $14 million in Series A funding. Georgetown Equity Partners led the round.
Germany’s ATMOS lands €13.1M EIC funding to return cargo from space; here’s how - Co-founded by Marta Oliveira, Atmos Space Cargo develops advanced technology for returning cargo from space. The Baden-Württemberg, Germany-based startup raised €13.1 million in funding led by the European Innovation Council.
Millie Secures $12M Series A to Continue Closing Gaps in Maternal Healthcare - Co-founded by Anu Sharma, Sarah Reynolds, and Talia Borgo, Millie provides virtual maternity care and remote patient monitoring. The San Francisco-based startup raised $12 million in Series A funding. TMV and Foreground Capital led the round, joined by Pivotal Ventures, March of Dimes Innovation Fund, BBG Ventures, Ingeborg Investments, Joyance, LearnStart, Amboy Street Ventures, Mother Ventures, Coyote Ventures, and Chai Ventures.
Tether backs stablecoin liquidity provider Mansa in $10M seed round - Co-founded by Nkiru Uwaje, Mansa enables payments companies, mainly in Africa, to settle transactions and fund customer accounts instantly. The Dubai-based startup raised $10 million in Seed funding (equity and debt). Stablecoin provider Tether led the $3 million equity investment, joined by Faculty Group, Octerra Capital, Polymorphic Capital, and Trive Digital.
Level Zero Health banks $6.9M to prove wearable medtech can take the strain out of hormone testing - Co-founded by Ula Rustamova and Irene Jia, Level Zero Health is developing a device for continuous hormone monitoring. The London and San Francisco-based medtech startup closed an oversubscribed $6.9 million Pre-Seed funding round led by redalpine and joined by HAX (SOSV) and Entrepreneur First.
ExoLab Italia lands €5 million to scale plant exosome innovation globally - Co-founded by Mariantonia Logozzi, ExoLab Italia uses plant-derived exosomes (cellular vesicles obtained from fruit) to enhance the effectiveness of ingredients used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. The Aquila, Italy-based biotech startup raised €5 million in Series A funding from CDP Venture Capital, dsm-firmenich Ventures, Linfa Fund, and Maia Ventures.
“Periods are not a weakness”: Menstrual underwear brand snuggs raises €5 million to reinvent period products - Co-founded and led by Linda Šejdová, Snuggs is a menstrual underwear brand. The London, Amsterdam, and Prague-based startup raised €5 million in a round led by TripleB.
Lingo.dev is an app localization engine for developers - Co-founded by Veronica Prilutskaya, Lingo.dev provides an AI-powered localization engine for developers. The Barcelona and San Francisco-based startup raised $4.2 million in a Seed round led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and angel investors.
How automotive exec Crystal Brown founded CircNova, an AI drug discovery biotech - Co-founded and led by Crystal Brown, CircNova is an AI drug discovery company developing RNA therapeutics. The Detroit-based startup raised $3.3 million led by South Loop Ventures, with participation from Dug Song, Union Heritage, Michigan Rise, Invest Detroit, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, and SPARK Capital.
A former Etsy product manager built an AI-powered app for new parents - Founded and led by Amanda DeLuca, Riley is a parenting management app. The US startup raised $3.1 million in a Seed round led by True Ventures with participation from Flybridge and Next Wave NYC.
Fueling green chemistry, Spanish biotech ZYMVOL raises €3M to accelerate enzyme discovery - Co-founded and led by Maria Fatima Lucas, ZYMVOL specialises in computational enzyme discovery and design. The Barcelona, Spain-based startup raised €3 million in Seed funding led by Faber Ventures, with participation from Elaia Partners and Übermorgen Ventures.
A software engineer built an app for tracking her weight-loss shots. In 8 months, it’s crossed 100,000 downloads and has $2 million from VCs. - Founded and led by Aja Beckett, Shotsy provides an app for tracking weight-loss medications. The US-based startup raised $2.3 million in a Seed funding round led by April Underwood of Adverb Ventures and joined by Coalition Operators, Springbank Collective, and angel investor Esther Dyson.
No Strain, more gain: Ochy lands €1.7 million to help runners stay injury-free - Co-founded by Perrine Chapot, Ochy provides an AI-powered running gait platform that helps athletes enhance performance and prevent injuries. The Rennes, France-based startup raised €1.7 million in Pre-Seed funding led by Redstone VC and joined by investors including Look AI Ventures, BPIfrance, Berkeley SkyDeck, and Agile Physical Therapy.
Swell Raises $1.6M in Funding - Founded and led by Rachel Edenfield, Swell provides mental health care focused on self-guided interventional care. The US-based startup raised $1.6 million in funding from Keyhorse Capital, Bluegrass Angels, PeakState Ventures, defy.vc, and Fairwater Labs.
Glassbox Raises $1.2M to Reimagine the Spreadsheet for AI-Enabled Corporate Transactions - Co-founded and led by Allison Harris, Glassbox aims to accelerate deal analysis with AI-assisted financial modeling designed for speed and transparency. The Toronto-based startup raised $1.2 million in Pre-Seed funding co-led by FinTech Collective and StandUp Ventures, with participation from Watertower Ventures.
Game maker Polymath aims to make learning math as enjoyable as Roblox - Co-founded and led by Sophie Silver, Polymath is a gamified math education platform for children. The New Zealand startup announced its $1 million Pre-Seed funding round co-led by Blackbird Ventures and GD1.
IVF insurance startup Future Family promises a baby or your money back - Features Claire Tomkins, co-founder and CEO of Future Family, a US startup offering a money-back guarantee to those going through IVF.
VivaTech’s The Female Founder Challenge is now open for applications.
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth