💸 Lisa Melchior's Vertu Capital Raises $300M+ For Its Debut Fund
FemWealth Issue #104
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
In the Spotlight 💸
Founded in 2017 by Lisa Melchior, the Toronto-based private equity firm Vertu Capital has raised $300 million to invest in software businesses across North America. Notably, Vertu is Canada’s first female-founded private equity firm.
“This is an exciting time to be in the market with new capital to deploy. The current vintage of mid-sized software businesses is well-positioned to differentiate themselves in the current market, and we are actively sourcing those well-run, profitable enterprises that are primed to scale.” - Lisa Melchior, Founder and Managing Partner at VERTU Capital
The firm aims to back technology companies that are (1) already profitable or close to becoming profitable; (2) have over $10M in revenue; (3) have over $365M in enterprise value. It will invest between $25 million and $75 million per company.
Dejero Labs, PathFactory, Carta, and Firmex are among Vertu’s portfolio companies.
The firm’s LPs include New York State Common Retirement Fund, BDC Capital, BMO Capital Partners, CIBC, Export Development Canada, and Manulife Investment Management.
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: GT Medical Technologies Raises $45 Million in Oversubscribed Series C Financing Led by Gilde Healthcare - Heyoung McBride is a co-founder of the medtech company dedicated to improving the lives of patients with brain tumors.
Lunaphore Raises CHF 40M in the First Close of Series D Funding - Co-founded by Déborah Heintze (CMO), the Swiss spatial biology startup raised $32.8m in Series D-1 equity funding led by Ernst-Göhner Stiftung Beteiligungen and joined by PHC Holdings, Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, OCCIDENT, and Redalpine. Additionally, it secured $10.8m in venture debt from Norgine Ventures.
Pediatric Behavioral Health Provider Bend Health Moves Out of Stealth Mode with $32M in Funding - The US-based youth and family telemental health startup, co-founded by Monika Roots, MD (President and Chief Medical Officer), secured $32m from Maveron, SteelSky Ventures, and WVV Capital.
Kirin Sinha’s Illumix AR Tech Could Be A Fashion Game Changer With New Round Of Investment - Founded and led by Kirin Sinha, Illumix’s AR technology integrates 2D and 3D to let customers try on merchandise such as jewelry. The company raised an $18 million Series A round. LightShed Ventures, Henry Kravis, Mark Cuban, Sony Innovation Fund, RW3 Ventures, OV, Visible Ventures, Maveron, and Lightspeed are among the investors.
“In earlier fundraising, I had to prove the technology and business out to a different level, as women aren’t always afforded the same benefit of the doubt. I knew I had to do more than knock on doors to get my shot–I had to knock down doors to find the right investor that believed in me and the business. Ultimately though, this enabled us to build a stronger company, and in these later phases of fundraising people saw what Illumix has achieved and didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.” - Kirin Sinha
Numbers Station raises $17.5M to bring AI to your data stack - Co-founded by Ines Chami (Chief Scientist), the US-based startup announced its $17.5 million Series A round.
Microbiome therapeutics biotech mbiomics raises €13M - The German biotech company, co-founded and led by Laura Figulla, is developing microbiome-based therapeutics. The Series A funding round was led by MIG Capital AG, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital.
Sifflet raises cash to expand its data observability platform - Founded by Salma Bakouk, the Paris-based startup raised €12 million (~$12.7 million) in a Series A funding round led by EQT Ventures. It enables companies to collect information across different layers of their data stack, from the data ingestion stages to transformation and consumption.
Early on, Fly by Jing founder was rejected by every investor she approached. Now, she’s raised $12 million for her brand that’s carried in 4,000 stores (Fortune $) - Jing Gao is the founder of the CPG brand Fly by Jing. The startup announced its $12 million Series B funding round earlier this month.
Piclo plucks £8.3 million to decarbonise grids in US and Asia-Pacific - The London-based flexible energy systems marketplace, co-founded by Alice Tyler (CPO), closed its Series B. Future Energy Ventures and Clean Growth Fund co-led the round, joined by Green Angel Syndicate, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions, Sustainable Future Ventures, and Japan Energy Fund.
Latin American PayTech Toku raises $7m seed funding - Cristina Etcheberry is the co-founder and CEO of the Mexico-based platform aiming to innovate how firms collect payments in Latin America. F-Prime Capital led the round with participation from Wollef, Honey Island, FundersClub, and Clocktower.
Giada De Laurentiis Leans Into Her 5 Million Fans With Giadzy, A New Multi-Pronged Venture - The D2C online Food Retail, Media & Content platform founded and led by Giada De Laurentiis announced its seed round, bringing its total funding to $5 million.
‘AIoT’ startup Butlr raises funding from Qualcomm, launches new wireless sensor - The California-based anonymous people sensing platform, co-founded by Jiani Zeng (Chief Product Officer), raised $5 million in funding from Qualcomm Ventures and Carrier Global.
Preventative measures as AERA Health raises €4 million - Dr. Andrea Gartenbach, MD, is the co-founder and Chief Medical officer of the Germany-based healthtech startup bringing data-driven P4 medicine (predictive, preventive, personalised, and participatory) to consumers via existing healthcare infrastructure.
Temasek’s Sheares Healthcare backs Asia-focused mental health startup Thoughtful - Founded and led by Joan Low, the digital mental health platform focused on Asia raised $4 million in a pre-Series A round.
Loupe Raises $3M to Transform Art Distribution - Founded and led by Dot Bustelo, the streaming art platform announced a $3M Series Seed+ funding round led by ALIAVIA Ventures.
Gamify Raises $2.5+ Million Seed Round - The US-based software company, co-founded and led by Emily Applegarth, provides a sales gamification platform where sales reps can compete for sales incentives.
Farming startup PoLoPo raises $1.75M to develop animal-based proteins from plants - The Israeli startup, co-founded by Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni (CTO) and Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir (CEO), is developing a proprietary method for growing proteins from potatoes. It raised a $1.75 million pre-seed round led by FoodLabs, including CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, Milk & Honey Ventures, and HackCapital.
Swehl launches its breastfeeding platform and brand with $1.1M in pre-seed funding - Founded by Elizabeth Myer and Betsy Riley, the US-based startup offers both physical and digital products that help parents throughout their postpartum experience. Cleo Capital, Katia Beauchamp (ex-Birchbox), Betsy Fore (XFactor Ventures) are among the investors.
Pinkie, a maker of period pads for adolescents, raises $1M (Axios Pro $) - Founded by Fiona Simmonds and Sana Clegg, two mothers of young daughters, the New York-based company raised $1m in seed funding from Amboy Street Ventures and other investors.
Lumetry Diagnostics: Austrian MedTech Startup Raises Funding (in German) - Antonia Riva-Frizberg is the co-founder and CEO of the Graz, Austria-based startup focused on lung monitoring. The amount raised is undisclosed.
VC: Emblem is the latest European seed fund in new wave of VC funds - Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan is a founder and General Partner of Emblem, a new, Paris-based, pre-seed-focused venture firm backing tech startups in France, Denmark, and Sweden. The firm raised $54 million (€50 million) in capital commitments for its debut fund (not yet closed).
This group of 20 business school friends now have a fund in France - Vanessa Daurian Proust is the CEO and co-founder of Neo Founders.
Plural lures mRNA vaccine and AI pioneer to become its newest partner - Carina Namih, a pioneer in mRNA technology and former CEO of HelixNano, joined London-based Plural VC.
Women’s Health: Maven Clinic acquires women’s health platform Naytal - As it plans to expand in the UK, Maven, the fertility and women’s health benefits unicorn founded by Kate Ryder, acquired British digital health company Naytal. Leila Thabet, the founder of Naytal, will serve as VP of Global Growth at Maven.
Wealth: Wall Street’s Most Connected Black Woman Has An Ingenious Idea To Narrow The Wealth Gap - Features Ariel Investments’ co-CEO Mellody Hobson
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
“What would we know about human biology if we had dedicated the same amount of attention and resources to study female physiology as we have to male physiology? And how has this impacted us more broadly as a country, a culture, a society?” - Daisy Robinton, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Oviva Therapeutics
Thank you for reading FemWealth! 🥰 Wish you a lovely Sunday and an exciting week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth