💸 Kristina Shen's Chemistry Raises $350M Debut Fund
FemWealth Issue #182
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded and co-led by Kristina Shen, Chemistry is a San Francisco venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments, especially at Series A.
It raised a first fund of $350 million to back business-to-business startups in areas like fintech, work software, and developer and infrastructure tools.
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Be Bio raises $82m to advance haemophilia B gene therapy to Phase I/II trial - Led by Dr. Joanne Smith-Farrell and co-founded by Lea Hachigian, Be Biopharma is developing B cell-based therapies to treat genetic diseases and conditions like hemophilia B. The US company raised an $82 million round from ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management, Alta Partners, Longwood Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Takeda Ventures.
Edtech Hotshot SchooLinks Snags $80 Million Funding Round—All Thanks To An Unsolicited Term Sheet - Founded and led by Katie Fang, SchooLinks helps K-12 students make decisions about college and careers. The Austin, Texas-based company secured an $80 million Series B round led by Susquehanna Growth Equity, with Stephens Group, Strada, and ASA also joining.
Agrifintech Agrolend banks $53m Series C: ‘It demonstrates the market’s confidence in our business model’ - Co-founded by Valeria Bonadio, Agrolend is a digital bank for Brazil’s agribusiness sector providing credit to smallholder farms. The São Paulo, Brazil-based startup raised $53 million in Series C funding co-led by Creation Investments and Syngenta Group Ventures. Vivo Ventures, L4, Norinchukin Bank, Valor Capital, Lightrock, Yara Growth Ventures, SP Ventures, and others also participated.
March Biosciences Closes Oversubscribed $28.4 Million Series A Financing - Co-founded and led by Sarah Hein, PhD, March Biosciences is a clinical-stage cell-therapy company targeting hematological malignancies. The US-based biotech raised $28.4 million in Series A funding led by Mission BioCapital and 4BIO Capital. KdT Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Volnay Therapeutics, Modi Ventures, Mansueto Investments, TMC Venture Fund, Cancer Focus Fund, Small Ventures, and Portal Innovations also contributed.
AI startup TollBit raises $24M series A - Co-founded by Olivia Joslin, TollBit is a marketplace for digital publishers and AI companies enabling publishers to license their content for AI training. The New York-based startup raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and joined by S32.
Bluesky raises $15M Series A, plans to launch subscriptions - Led by Jay Graber, BlueSky is a decentralized social media app. The Seattle-based company raised $15 million in Series A funding. Blockchain Capital led the round, with participation from Alumni Ventures, True Ventures, and SevenX. Kinjal Shah, a general partner at Blockchain Capital, will join the board of Bluesky.
HealthEx Raises $14M led by General Catalyst to Empower Patients and Health Systems to do more with Health Data - Co-founded and led by Priyanka Agarwal, MD, MBA, HealthEx is an AI-driven preference and consent platform that simplifies patient experience and automates security and compliance for healthcare organizations. The San Francisco startup announced $14 million in Seed and Series A funding, led by General Catalyst, with participation from Electric Capital.
Dyania Health raises $10M for clinical trial recruitment LLM (Axios Pro $) - Founded and led by Eirini Schlosser, Dyania Health is an LLM for clinical trial recruitment. The US company raised $10 million in Series A funding. HealthX Ventures led, with Tech Square Ventures and Cleveland Clinic Ventures participating.
Party Icons raises $9M for mobile-1st gaming platform - Co-founded by Claire Lin, Party Icons is a mobile-first gaming platform with three fully playable modes. It raised a $9 million round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with IDG Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, Leap Capital, Mantle Network, King River Capital, Mask Network, Yield Guild Games, Zentry, 32-Bit Ventures, Ed3n Ventures, and Palm Drive Capital also joining.
Recyda raises €6.3M Series A for packing management platform - Co-founded by Vivian Loftin and Anna Zießow, Recyda develops software to help packaging companies assess the recyclability of their supply chain. The Freiburg, Germany-based company raised €6.3 million in funding. Cusp Capital led the round, joined by investors including Speedinvest, Futury Capital, the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, and angels.
Lin Health to Collaborate with Mayo Clinic to Expand Access to Evidence-Based, Tech-Enabled Chronic Pain Care - Co-founded by Abigail Hirsch, Lin Health is a digital platform that helps people reclaim their lives from chronic pain. The US-based company raised $5.2 million in funding from aMoon, Mayo Clinic, Saban Ventures, and others.
Passionfroot is a marketplace for business-focused content creators looking for brand partnerships — and vice versa - Co-founded and led by Jennifer Phan, Passionfroot helps marketers to scale their go-to-market with content partnerships and creators to run and manage their brand partnerships in one place. The Berlin-based startup raised a $3.8 million Seed round led by Supernode Global, with additional support from s16vc, Sequoia, Accel scout funds, and Creandum.
Virtual assistant for HR: Google’s AI-focused venture fund invests in Seattle startup Cascade AI - Co-founded and led by Ana-Maria Constantin, Cascade AI provides an AI assistant built to address employees’ human resources and benefits questions. The Seattle-based startup raised $3.75 million in Seed funding led by Gradient, with additional support from Myriad Venture Partners, and Success Venture Partners.
MicroLub Secures £3.5M to Commercialise Fat Replacement Tech for Low-Calorie Yet Delicious Plant-Based Foods - Founded by Professor Anwesha Sarkar, MicroLub produces a fat replacement for lower-calorie plant-based foods. The Leeds, UK-based company raised £3.5 million in Seed funding. Northern Gritstone led the round, joined by Praetura Ventures and LIFFT.
Uprise wants to help small businesses make better financial decisions - Co-founded and led by Jessica Chen Riolfi, Uprise provides an embedded financial advisory platform for small businesses. The San Francisco startup raised a $3.3 million Seed round led by Blank Ventures, joined by Graham & Walker, Hustle Fund, and Dash Fund.
With Nothing Underneath Secures 2.5 Million Pounds in Funding, Launches Collaboration With Felicity Kay (WWD $) - Founded and led by Pip Durell, With Nothing Underneath is a London-based womenswear brand. The company raised £2.5 million ($3.3 million) in funding. Pembroke VCT led the round, joined by JamJar Investments.
Cafeteria raises $3M to connect brands with their most opinionated customers: teens - Co-founded by Leeann (Pica) Sheely, Cafeteria is a brand insights platform focused on teenage consumers. The New York City-based startup raised $3 million in Seed funding. Collaborative Fund and Imaginary Ventures led the round, joined by Bertelsmann, and Guy Oseary.
AI platform Aether secures $2.5M Seed for rooftop solar panels - Co-founded by Shelby Bons, Aether is an AI-powered platform that simplifies the entire solar workflow, from pre-sales and design to installation and home monitoring. The San Francisco startup raised a $2.5 million Seed round led by Noa, joined by Y Combinator, Collab Fund, Amino Capital, and Climate Capital.
German climate tech autarkize raises €2.3 million to drive sustainable energy transition - Co-founded by Sophie Peter, Autarkize develops pyrolysis plants to convert biogenic residues into renewable gas and biochar. The Germany-based startup raised €2.3 million in Seed funding. High-Tech Gründerfonds led the round, joined by Fair Capital Impact Fund, Innovation for Impact, and Floris Capital.
Munich-Based ExoMatter raises €1.7M to expedite materials science breakthroughs - Co-founded by Barbara (Prähofer) Bachus, Exomatter is an R&D platform for new materials discovery. The Munich, Germany-based company raised €1.7 million in Pre-Seed funding. Vanagon Ventures led the round, with additional support from Bayern Kapital, 212 Next, Zaka VC, and Bloomhaus Ventures.
Turnover Labs is helping chemical plants to reuse their waste CO2 - Founded and led by Marissa Beatty, Turnover Labs develops decarbonization technology for the chemical manufacturing industry. The New York City-based company raised $1.4 million in Pre-Seed funding. Pace Ventures and GC Ventures led the round, joined by Collaborative Fund, Gigascale Capital, Impact Science Ventures, and Sandy Spring Climate Partners.
Revyse Announces Investment from RET Ventures, Reaches $2 Million in Venture Funding - Co-founded and led by Bobbi Steward, Revyse is a vendor lifecycle management platform for the multifamily industry. The US-based company raised $1 million in Seed funding from RET Ventures.
VC: L2 Point Sees Structured Equity Opportunity With $460 Million Debut Pool (WSJ $) - Founded and led by Kerstin Dittmar, San Francisco-based growth equity firm L2 Point closed its debut fund focused on structured equity investments in late-stage, high-growth technology-related companies.
Venture studio Diagram expands into climate tech with oversubscribed fund -Diagram, a Montreal-based venture studio raised $80 million CAD ($58 million) for its fourth fund - Diagram Climate Tech Fund. It is the studio’s first investment vehicle focused on climate and will be co-led by Partner Amélie Foz-Couture.
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Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth