👩🏽🦳 Kristen Helton's Herself Health Raises $26M in Series A to Provide Primary Care to Women 65 and Over
FemWealth Issue #119
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In the Spotlight 👩🏽🦳
Kristen Helton, a co-founder of biosensor company Profusa and former General Manager of Amazon Care, launched Herself Health in 2022, as the first healthcare company built for women aged 65 and older.
“Women are not feeling heard, and they’re not well served. It takes a long time to get an appointment with their doctor, and women are feeling rushed to tell them everything in 10 minutes. As a result, they don’t feel well cared for and pushed to the next step without their doctors having the time to really understand what their needs are. And, these women have very unique issues.” - Kristen Helton via TechCrunch
This week, Herself Health announced $26 million in Series A funding led by Michael Cline of Accretive, with participation from Juxtapose.
Operating one clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, the company takes a holistic approach to healthcare, providing services focused on health, wellness, mobility, mental health, and social and behavioral health.
Read more: Herself Health, providing primary care to women 65 and over, raises $26M
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Kasha raises $21M Series B led by Knife Capital to expand health access platform across Africa - Founded in 2016 by CEO Joanna Bichsel, Kasha, a Rwanda-based startup provides a digital retail and last-mile distribution platform for pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) with a specific product focus on women’s healthcare needs and household items. The company secured a $21 million Series B investment led by Knife Capital with participation from Finnfund, DFC, Beyond Capital Ventures, Altree Capital, Bamboo Capital’s BLOC Smart Africa Fund, Five35 Ventures, a.o.
“We have always understood that women are the most influential customer in the health space, both because they have the most health needs and are decision-makers for health in the household and unlock the rest of the population.” - Joanna Bichsel, Founder and CEO of Kasha via TechCrunch
Kitchen robot Botinkit raises $13M from DJI angel and others - Co-founded and led by Shirley Chen, the Shenzhen, China-based startup raised $13 million in a Series A round to expand in the Middle East and Europe.
Construction Fintech Startup Trunk Tools Announces Launch with $9.9M in Seed Funding - Founded and led by Dr. Sarah Buchner, the construction-focused fintech startup addresses the skilled labor shortage by helping workers get paid faster. The US-based company launched out of stealth with $9.9 million in seed funding. Innovation Endeavors led the oversubscribed round, with participation from Fifth Wall, Foundation Capital, a.o.
Lee Fixel’s Addition leads $6M seed round in Egyptian fintech Flash - Sherine Kabesh is a co-founder of Flash, an Egyptian fintech providing cashless payment solutions for consumers and businesses through a scan-and-pay service. The company raised $6 million in seed funding led by Addition and joined by Flourish Ventures, and strategic angel investors.
Nitrofix raises $3.1 million Seed to produce ammonia from water and air - The Israel-based green ammonia company, co-founded by Ophira Melamed (CEO) and Meital Alon (CTO), raised $3.1 million in seed funding. Clean Energy Ventures led the round, joined by SOSV, Zero Carbon Capital, UM6P Ventures, High House Investments, a.o.
Snowstorm raises seed to keep the internet free - Started by former Google engineer Serene (she goes by her first name only for privacy reasons) as an open source project, Snowstorm is a decentralised microproxy network. It raised $3 million in seed funding, led by Seed Club Ventures, and joined by Cabrit Capital, Keppel Capital, EchoVC, a.o.
Cybersecurity startup Teleskope brings intelligent automation to data security and privacy compliance - Co-founded by two former security engineers at AirBnB, Elizabeth Nammour (CEO) and Julie Trias, the New York City-based startup empowers organizations to achieve robust data security, privacy, and compliance through automation. It raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau.
Metafold raises $1.78 million to advance the mass adoption of industrial 3D printing - Co-founded and led by Dr. Elissa Ross, the Toronto-based 3D engineering platform, raised $1.78 million in oversubscribed seed funding. Differential Ventures led the round with participation from Active Impact Investments, Jetstream, and Standup Ventures.
By Reimagining PR, This Entrepreneur Is Opening Doors For Female Founders And Closing The Gender Gap - Features Gesche Haas, Founder and CEO of Dreamers & Doers.
“Media coverage ultimately creates systemic change. It influences who dares to strive for a leadership position or start a company, and it impacts the number of women-led businesses who can raise capital, see breakneck growth, and exit or IPO.
By changing who and what gets portrayed in the media, we are also changing the world.” - Gesche Haas, Founder and CEO of Dreamers & Doers.
VC & Growth Funds: Westlake Village BioPartners launches $450 mln fund for biotechs - Co-founded by Managing Director Dr. Beth Seidenberg (a former Kleiner Perkins general partner), the L.A.-based venture firm launched its third fund of $450 million to incubate and fund early-stage biotech startups in Southern California and beyond.
Bracket Capital Raises Third Flagship Fund Focused on Growth and Special Situations Investments in Technology-Enabled Businesses - Co-founded by Managing Partner Yalda Aoukar, Bracket Capital, a California-based global multi-asset investment manager focused on growth and later-stage, technology-enabled companies, announced the successful close of its third flagship funds, Bracket Capital Fund III, LP, Bracket Capital Fund III-A, LP and related vehicles, totaling $150 million. Bracket also raised an additional $300 million in co-investment and evergreen funds to invest alongside Fund III.
TLV Partners raises new $250M fund - Co-founded by Managing Partner Rona Segev, Israel-based early-stage VC firm TLV Partners announced its fifth fund with $250 million in capital commitments. The firm aims to make 25 seed and Series A investments, writing cheques in the range of $4 to $8 million.
FLORA Ventures raises $50 million to invest in sustainable agrifood tech - Co-founded by Esther Barak-Landes, the Israeli VC firm Flora Ventures launched an $80 million fund to invest in early-stage sustainable agrifood startups across Israel and Europe. The firm secured capital commitments worth $50M.
All Raise CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner On Why Investors Should Bet On Women
“Women operate with 25% less capital per month than other founders. Women do more with less and create more value for investors... If you’re an investor right now, you should bet on women.” - Paige Hendrix Buckner, CEO of All Raise
Beauty & Fashion: Oddity Tech Stock Surges in Beauty Company’s Trading Debut - Co-founded by Shiran Holtzman-Erel (Chief Product Officer), beauty tech company Oddity made its trading debut on Nasdaq under the ticker ODD.
Kim Kardashian’s Skims Is Now Worth $4 Billion - Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and intimates brand Skims is now valued at $4 billion after raising $270 million in new funding from investors including Wellington Management, Greenoaks Capital Partners, D1 Capital Partners, and Imaginary Ventures. The company plans to expand into physical stores and men’s clothing.
Women’s Health: FemTech Startups Want To Unlock The Potential Of Menstrual Blood - Features Isabelle Guenou, CEO and co-founder of the German startup theblood which analyzes women’s menstrual blood that they have collected at home using a menstrual cup.
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
Startups with all-women founding teams raised just $1.4B in H1 - According to PitchBook, in H1 2023, all-female-founded startups secured just 1.6% of the total capital deployed, the lowest since 2017. Mixed-gender founding teams with at least one woman founder raised $24.1B in VC funding representing 28.1% of the entire capital deployed across all startups.
Who created Barbie? Ruth Handler faced sexism that would feel familiar to women leaders today
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth