😇 Hey Freya Gets Angel Investors Backing to Advance Women’s Wellness
FemWealth Issue #139
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In today’s edition: Hey Freya raised an Angel round to advance women’s wellness; Ondine Suavet’s mylight150 secured €100 million for its solar management systems; Noor Siddiqui’s Orchid announced $12 million in funding and the launch of the world’s first 30x whole genome sequencing reports for embryos; Alice Albizzati and Elina Berrebi’s Revaia held a €150 million first close of their second fund; Susanne Fromm’s Vanagon Ventures announced the first close of its first fund; and more in women-led startups and VC.
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded by Helkin Berg (CEO), Thara Vayali (Chief Medical Officer), and Cecilia Tse (CFO/COO), US-based hey freya is on a mission to advance women’s wellness. The company announced a $500K Angel funding round led by Goddess Fun+d with participation from several investors and family offices.
“This raise has underscored that even against the backdrop of the current market, there is an incredible appetite for a new solution created by women, for women. We’re honored to be trusted with this undertaking and these funds will help us get to the next phase of our mission.” - Helkin Berg, Co-founder and CEO of hey freya (via FemTech Insider)
hey freya’s offering includes at-home lab testing, naturopathic care, and personalized wellness products. Its 100% plant-based products, including multivitamins, daily adaptogenic supplements, and sleep support supplements, are formulated by women physicians to cater to women’s specific health needs.
The company aims to initiate clinical trials and broaden its product range.
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Seismic Therapeutic Closes $121 Million Series B Financing to Advance Immunology Pipeline Optimized by its Machine Learning Platform - Co-founded and led by Jo Viney, US-based Seismic Therapeutic uses machine learning to develop novel drugs for autoimmune diseases. It secured $121 million in a Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and joined by Amgen Ventures, Codon Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, GC&H, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Boxer Capital, GV, and Samsara BioCapital.
French solar ecosystems firm mylight150 raises EUR 100m - Co-founded and led by Ondine Suavet, Lyon-based mylight150 designs and distributes solar management systems. It secured €100 million in funding from investors including Eiffel Investment Group, Azora Capital, and Andera Partners.
Liquid AI, a new MIT spinoff, wants to build an entirely new type of AI - Co-founded by robotics expert Daniela Rus, Liquid AI aims to build general-purpose AI systems powered by a liquid neural network. The company raised $37.5 million in a two-stage Seed round from OSS Capital, PagsGroup, WordPress parent company Automattic, Samsung Next, Bold Capital Partners, ISAI Cap Venture, and angel investors.
Opal Security, which helps companies manage access and identities, raises $22M - Founded and led by Umaimah Khan, Opal offers companies a consolidated view and control of employee access to internal tools, apps, platforms, and environments. It raised $22 million in a Series B round led by Battery Ventures with participation from Greylock and Box Group.
Germany’s Banxware raises over €15M to bridge the financial gap for SMEs - Co-founded and led by Miriam Wohlfarth, Banxware is a Berlin-based embedded financing platform. It raised €15 million in Series A funding in a round led by UniCredit and Fabrick, with participation by 13books Capital (previously Element Ventures), VR Ventures, D4 Ventures, and Force Over Mass.
Orchid Introduces Whole Genome Sequencing Reports for Embryos After Raising $12M in Funding - Founded by Noor Siddiqui, Orchid is a US-based reproductive technology company providing the world’s first 30x whole genome sequencing reports for embryos. It announced $12 million in funding from Prometheus Fund, Starbloom Capital, Refactor Capital, Pebblebed, Day One Ventures, Conviction Capital, and notable angels.
Spade digs into credit card fraud detection intelligence following new capital raise - Co-founded by Tess Bloch, US-based Spade raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Flourish Ventures and joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, Dash Fund, and Everywhere Ventures (The Fund).
DataCebo launches enterprise version of popular open source synthetic data library - Co-founded by Neha Patki, DataCebo secured $8.5 million in Seed funding. Link Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners led the round with participation from Uncorrelated Ventures.
Asato Raises $7.5M in Seed Funding to bring an enterprise CIO Copilot to market - Co-founded and led by Sundari Mitra, Asato is a US-based startup building an AI-powered “copilot” for corporate IT leaders. It raised a $7.5 million Seed round co-led by Intel Capital and Lip-Bu Tan, with participation from Shah Capital Partners.
Carbon Maps, an environmental accounting startup for the food industry, gets new backers - Co-founded by Estelle Huynh (COO), Carbon Maps is a Paris-based startup that is developing a SaaS platform focused on the environmental impact of the food industry. It secured €7 million in funding from investors including Daphni, Breega, and Samaipata.
Sona launches its music streaming platform and marketplace to reward fans for buying ‘digital twins’ of songs - Co-founded by Laura Jaramillo and Jennifer Lee, Sona is a web3 streaming protocol that uses DeFi primitives (decentralized finance basic building blocks) to financially empower artists via its rewards model, auctions and ad-free streaming. It raised $6.9 million in a Seed funding round from Polychain Capital, Haun Ventures, and Rogue Capital.
Poppy says ‘I do’ to new capital for digital booking, fulfillment of wedding flowers - Founded and led by Cameron Hardesty, Poppy’s proprietary technology provides couples with a personalized and transparent process for finding wedding flowers. The US-based company secured $6.5 million in Series A funding. Michigan Capital Network led the round, with additional support from IDEA Fund Partners, Techstars, Angeles Investors, Riptide Ventures, and Front Porch Ventures.
Git platform AllSpice now curries favor with enterprises - Co-founded by Valentina Ratner, AllSpice is a git platform for hardware developers. It raised $6 million from Root Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Bowery Capital, Benchstrength, and a group of angel investors.
Seattle startup Joon raises $6M to expand online mental health therapy for youth - Co-founded by Emily Pesce (CEO) and Amy Mezulis (Chief Psychologist), June is a US-based startup that provides teletherapy sessions to patients 13- to 24-years old to support them with issues including anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sexual and gender identity, and academic problems. It raised a $6 million round from existing investors PSL Ventures and Route 66 Ventures.
Cambium Carbon raises $5.3M to repurpose wood meant for the landfill - Co-founded by Marisa Repka (CFO), Cambium Carbon is a US-based startup that uses wood destined for the landfill to create furniture, floors, and construction products. It secured a $5.3 million Seed round led by MaC Venture Capital, including Blue Pool Capital, Rise of the Rest, Alumni Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Gaingels, and Avesta.
Scienta Lab raises 4 million euros for its foundation model dedicated to immunology research (French $) - Co-founded and led by Camille Bouget, Paris-based Scienta Lab uses AI to model out individual immune variables for drug discovery and treatment of immune system diseases. It raised €4 million in Seed funding from CentraleSupélec Venture and angel investors.
Poland-based MIM Fertility Secures $2M in Seed Funding to Advance Its AI-Enabled IVF Solutions - Co-founded and co-led by Ula Sankowska, MIM Fertility is a Poland-based company that offers solutions in infertility treatment by combining artificial intelligence technologies with reproductive medicine. It raised a $2 million Seed funding round led by Tangent Line and Peleton.
GameTree raises $1.7M Seed funding to create safe spaces for gamers globally - Founded by Dana Sydorenko, GameTree is an American-Ukrainian gaming startup that unites gamers with new friends and games to play. Aiming to combat toxic behavior and foster positive connections among gamers, it secured $1.7 million in Seed funding. Investors include Corazon Capital, Full Stack Ventures, Goodwater Capital, 32-Bit Ventures, and Expert Dojo.
London-based Harriet raises €1.4 million pre-seed to deliver a full-stack AI offering to HR teams - Co-founded and led by Cecily Motley, Harriet provides an AI-powered HR assistant. It raised £1.2 million in Pre-Seed funding, in a round led by Concept Ventures and joined by Frontline Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, and Notion Capital.
RYVER.AI secures €1.3M Pre-Seed to address bias in radiology diagnostics through generative AI - Co-founded by Kathrin Khadra and Simona Santamaria, RYVER.AI develops generative models that enable medical AI developers to generate diverse sets of synthetic test and training data. It raised a €1.3 million Pre-Seed round led by Nina Capital, with participation from BayernKapital and Fund F.
Madrid-based Gataca secures €1.3 million for its decentralised identity solutions - Founded and led by Irene Hernández, Gataca is a decentralised identity verification platform. It raised €1.3 million in a funding round led by Signature Ventures and joined by investors including SBXi.
Beyondbmi Raises €1M in Seed Funding - Co-founded by Dr Harriet Treacy, Beyondbmi is a Dublin-based digital weight-loss clinic. It raised €1 million in a Seed funding round led by Enterprise Ireland.
Faircado wins €1M in Slush 100 competition - Co-founded and led by Evoléna de Wilde d‘Estmael, Faircado is an AI-powered browser plugin that helps online shoppers automatically find cheaper second-hand alternatives.
VC: Europe’s largest female-led VC firm Revaia is launching a new growth fund - Co-founded by Alice Albizzati and Elina Berrebi, Paris-based Revaia announced a €150 million first close of its second fund.
Intuitive’s VC arm closes second fund with $150M for minimally invasive care startups - Led by Managing Partner Murielle Thinard McLane, US-based Intuitive Ventures raised a new $150 million fund focused on healthcare companies building solutions to improve minimally invasive approaches to healthcare, across devices, diagnostics, software, and therapeutics.
Zelda Ventures’ new pre-seed fund backs serial entrepreneurs - Led by General Partner Suzanne Fletcher (previously Stanford StartX fund manager and general partner at Prime Movers Lab), Bay Area-based Zelda launched with $33 million in capital commitments.
Vanagon Ventures launches new climate software fund — and is bullish on carbon credit opportunities - Co-led by Susanne Fromm (former CEO at blockchain startup coinIX), Vanagon Ventures announced the first close of its first fund, at “around 20%” of its €30 million target. The Munich-based VC firm backs climate software solutions.
Rent the Runway’s co-founder Jennifer Fleiss joined Initialized Capital as the firm’s newest partner.
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth