💸 Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg & Judith Dada's La Famiglia Raises €250M
FemWealth Issue #102
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
What a whirlwind week for the tech and VC industries! As the SVB saga unfolds, here are some resources to help founders navigate these uncertain times, focused on Europe and the US.
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded by Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg and Judith Dada, La Famiglia, a Berlin-based VC firm, raised €250 million for its third seed fund (€165 million) and its first growth co-investment fund (€90 million).
Fund 3 aims to invest up to €5 million in mainly B2B startups. The vertical focus is ML and AI, data, logistics and supply chains, consumerization of B2B, fintech and insurtech, sustainability, and “Industry 4.0”.
The new seed fund’s LP base includes institutional investors, brands such as Valentino, Adidas, Swarovski, and Estée Lauder, as well as entrepreneurs Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Ross Mason (MuleSoft) and portfolio founders Qasar Younis (Applied Intuition), Hanno Renner (Personio) and Michael Wax (Forto).
Since its inception in 2016, the firm’s 70 startups-strong portfolio includes Deel (payroll and HR platform valued at $12 billion), Maven Clinic (family health platform), Personio (HR management software), and Sweep (carbon accounting platform).
La Famiglia’s senior team comprises 60% women (50% of the total team) and 60% individuals with a migration background (30% of the total team).
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Open banking startup Abound nabs $601M to supercharge its AI-based consumer lending platform - The UK-based direct-to-consumer lending platform is co-founded by Michelle He. The new funding round is a mix of debt and equity. K3 Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Hambro Perks led the equity financing.
Bicara Therapeutics Announces Oversubscribed $108 Million Series B Financing to Advance Clinical-Stage Pipeline of Dual-Action Biologics to Treat Cancer - Led by Claire Mazumdar, Ph.D., MBA, the US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company is developing dual-action biologics to attack tumors. Red Tree Venture Capital and RA Capital Management led the round.
Humane, a secretive AI startup founded by ex-Apple employees, raises another $100M - Co-founded by Bethany Bongiorno, Humane announced $100 million in Series C funding to build an “integrated device and cloud services platform” for AI.
Paragonix Technologies Raises $24M in Series B Led by Signet Healthcare Partners - Dr. Lisa Anderson is the CEO of the Cambridge, Massatchuses-based organ transplant company.
Candidly picks up student debt relief where new US policies leave off - Founded and led by Laurel Taylor, the US-based company raised $20.5 million in Series B funding led by Altos Ventures.
Rebel Girls announces $8 million Series A, metaverse expansion - Led by CEO and chairperson Jes Wolfe, the girl empowerment company (and certified B Corporation) aims to reach an audience of 50 million girls by 2025, as it plans to expand to television, theater, and even the metaverse. Penguin Random House led the round.
Keeping tabs on NSFW or otherwise content on social networks, Unitary raises $8 million - Co-founded and led by Sasha Haco, the UK-based startup uses contextual AI to automate content moderation.
Tweed is a crypto wallet API to add a web3 flavor to any web service - The company, co-founded by Michelle Latzer (CEO) and Julie Tauber (CPO), announced its $4 million seed round led by Accel. Coming out of stealth, Tweed aims to help companies create frictionless web3 experiences.
The Week alums launch climate news startup with $4M Series A funding - Sara O’Connor is Heatmap’s co-founder and Chief Growth Officer.
Prana Thoracic Raises $3M in Series A Financing - The Houston, Texas-based medical device company, led by Joanna Nathan, focuses on developing a minimally invasive, lung-sparing device for early intervention of suspicious pulmonary nodules. New World Angels led the round, with participation from Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, and the University City Science Center’s Phase 1 Ventures.
Cellbox Solutions Raises EUR 6.5 Million in Series A1 Financing Round - Founded by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Adlkofer, the Germany-based healthcare company provides live cell logistics solutions for research, development, and shipment of life-sustaining therapies.
Wave Life Secures $6M Investment to Increase Mental Health Access For Gen Z - The Los Altos, California-based startup, founded and led by Dr. Sarah Adler, provides users with emotional well-being coaching. The seed round was led by Santé Ventures, with participation from Hannah Grey, Joyance Capital, Gaingels, and Telocity Ventures.
“Gen Z is the first generation to view mental health care as a crucial part of their lives. And as someone who specializes in treating this age group, I can tell you that they are not messing around. They demand a mental health care experience that's different from the status quo and they're not afraid to speak up about it.” - Dr. Sarah Adler
It’s time for alt chocolate: London's WNWN picks up $5.6 million - Co-founded by Ahrum Pak, WNWN produces cocoa-free vegan chocolate bars. The Series A funding round included PeakBridge VC, FoodLabs, Martin Braun-Gruppe, Mustard Seed Maze, PINC, Investbridge AgriTech, and HackCapital.
Iron Health Launches to Empower OB/GYNs and Foster Comprehensive Healthcare for All Women - Founded and led by Stephanie Winans, the tech-enabled, virtual care partner empowering OB/GYNs and their patients launched this week to support better outcomes across a woman’s healthcare journey. The company raised a $4.5 million round from investors, including Redesign Health and the March of Dimes’ innovation fund.
ufurnish.com Raises £3.4M in Seed Funding - Founded and led by Deirdre Mc Gettrick, ufurnish is a London, UK-based provider of a search and discovery platform for home furniture and furnishings.
Adaptis Secures $2 Million CAD to Help Building Owners Move to Net Zero with AI - Co-founded by Sheida Shahi (CEO) and Aida Mollaei (CTO), the Toronto-based cleantech startup that enables building owners, architects, and engineers to make informed decisions for decarbonizing buildings and lowering the costs of planning. 2048 Ventures led the company’s pre-seed round
Daily Blends Raises $2M in Funding - The Toronto, Canada-based AI tech company, co-founded by sisters Shriya Gupta and Purva Gupta, provides smart vending machines offering fresh, healthy food options.
Female-owned biotech startup, Tiamat Sciences raise an extension of $2M to accelerate product validation and strategic partnerships - Founded and led by France-Emmanuelle Adil, the company provides animal-free recombinant proteins at a fraction of their cost with a reduced carbon footprint. 8090 Industries led the seed-extension financing round with participation from new and existing investors.
Bag it, tag it, sell it to the merchant next door as Saclàb raises €1.6 million - Alexandra Stück is a co-founder of the Munich-based marketplace for pre-loved luxury designer bags Saclàb.
Early years nursery MEplace secures £1.2 million in seed round - The London-based early years nursery group is founded and led by Vlada Bell.
UK’s DiffusionData secures €1.12M from NEDCF for its intelligent data platform - Founded and led by Grethe Brown, the company offers real-time data streaming and messaging solutions.
Patient-Therapist Matching Platform Meela Adds €550K to Invest in Growth - Tiffany Boswell and Natali Suo are the co-founders of the mental health startup on a mission to help women find their best-fit therapist from day 1.
Melinda French Gates’s Pivotal Ventures backs women’s health clinic Tia - Co-founded by Carolyn Witte (CEO) and Felicity Yost, the company aims to scale its mission of bringing holistic, preventive healthcare to women. The new investment brings the company’s total funding to about $150 million.
Tech: Meet the woman who invented a whole new subsection of tech set to be worth $1 trillion - Features Ida Tin, co-founder and chairwoman of menstrual health app Clue. She coined the term “FemTech” in 2016 to describe all tech and innovation that aims to tackle health issues that “solely, disproportionately, or differently affect girls, females, and women.”
“We’re still getting peanuts to play with when you see the amount of money that has been invested into, you know, e-scooters, car sharing.
We have to prove ourselves so hard along this journey. We’ve raised a lot of money and you know, comparably, we’ve done well. But I think we’ve been underfunded all along, honestly.” - Ida Tin
I was VP at Google for 10 years. Here’s the No. 1 skill I looked for at job interviews—very few people had it - By Claire Hughes Johnson, an advisor for Stripe, author of “Scaling People,” and lecturer at Harvard Business School; formerly Stripe’s former Chief Operating Officer and Google’s VP.
Sweep’s Rachel Delacour: ‘In companies, it’s the women who know how to talk about climate’
“A lot of chief sustainability officers are women. And then they’re becoming the CEO. It’s the only acceleration to the CEO seat that I’ve seen in the last 15 years.” - Rachel Delacour, co-founder of Sweep
Breaking stereotypes and developing future female talent: advice from a female Chief Revenue Officer in tech - Geraldine MacCarthy, Chief Revenue Officer at Personio, shares her insights into how we can bring more females into the tech sector.
VC: Stockholm’s got a new VC player as Node Ventures launches €70 million fund - Daniela Sjunnesson is one of Node Ventures’s founding members. The firm’s sector-agnostic fund will back early-stage companies, offering initial tickets ranging from €450,000 (5 million SEK) to €2.2 million (25 million SEK).
European VC’s top female investors: the list - Features Reshma Sohoni, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Seedcamp, Sonali de Rycker, partner at Accel, Ophelia Brown, co-founder and partner at Blossom Capital, Sophia Bendz, partner at Cherry Ventures, a.o.
Women’s & Family Health: 10 fertility startups to watch, according to investors - Features female-led fertility startups, including Inne, Apryl, and Daye.
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
Women in Tech Are Forever Cast as ‘Adults’ But Rarely as CEO
Departures of high-powered women in tech show how limiting that label can be — casting women as incomplete leaders without the vision to take the top job.
European tech startups – a long way off gender pay equality - Research made by benchmark platform Figures and inclusive recruiting platform 50inTech, shows that the unadjusted pay gap across Europe is 19%, with women paid, on average, 81p for every £1 man earn. Also, read All you need to know about diversity (or lack thereof) in European tech
Friends and family funding screws equality in entrepreneurship
“We can kid ourselves with how “lean” testing a business can be, but it still requires disposable income and disposable time. That automatically excludes talent that juggling multiple jobs to provide for their family, those with caring responsibilities they can’t afford to outsource, or those who don’t have a financial safety net to fall back on.” - Hattie Willis, founder coach
Thank you for reading FemWealth! 🥰 Have a restful Sunday and a successful week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth