💸 Magdalena “Mags” Kala Launches Double Down to Invest in Web3 Consumer Startups
FemWealth #85
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
In the Spotlight 💸
Magdalena “Mags” Kala has launched her Miami, Florida-based firm, Double Down, as a solo GP focused on early-stage consumer startups in the web3 space. An experienced fund manager, Kala raised an oversubscribed $30 million debut fund in just four months amidst a downturn in the crypto market.
“I believe that the future of web3 is in consumer, and I recognize that one of the things that I think is limiting that is actually the lack of good storytelling and go-to-market strategies around that, and communicating the value to people who are outside of the crypto OG, crypto-native customer segments. To me, it felt like a perfect investor-market fit (…) no one else in crypto was doing it, so I decided to launch the fund.”
The firm’s backers include Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen of a16z, Paradigm co-founders Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six, and consumer-focused LPs, including Paris Hilton and Sara Blakely. The LP base comprises ~30% female and ~30% BIPOC LPs.
Sign up for the Double Down Dispatch, a bi-weekly newsletter for web3 builders.
Read more: Ex-Bain investor launches $30M web3 consumer VC fund as solo female founder - Magdalena “Mags” Kala
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: 💸 Momento launches out of stealth with a serverless cache - Daniela Miao is one of the co-founders of the Seatle-based startup building a “serverless cache” optimized for cloud computing. Memento has raised $15 million in a seed funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
💸 Digital card and gifting platform Givingli nabs $10M - Nicole Emrani Green is the co-founder and CEO of the online gifting service that enables users to customize digital greetings and send gifts to anyone. The company raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Seven Seven Six.
💸 Alethea Closes $10M Series A Financing - Lisa Kaplan is the founder and CEO of the Washington, DC-based tech company that detects and mitigates disinformation, misinformation, and social media manipulation.
💸 Glasgow beauty entrepreneur secures £5.5 million funding - VIEVE, a beauty brand founded by Scottish makeup artist and beauty influencer Jamie Genevieve, has raised a £5.5m Series A round from Pembroke VCT, Venrex, Samos and Active Partners.
💸 Joylux Adds $5.5M in Series A Funding to Expand Its Menopause Platform - The company founded and led by Colette Courtion, added $5.5M in new commitments from J-Ventures, J-Impact and Dr. Kathy Fields, bringing their total Series A round to $13M. Joylux plans to accelerate the growth of their app-enabled vFit and vSculpt devices and accessory products and expand their product offerings in Latin America and Europe.
“We are making aggressive moves to capitalize on the enormous market opportunity and health needs that menopause brings. Women want alternative treatment options to hormone replacement therapy, and we now have a platform of products that address a myriad of menopause health issues with non-hormonal solutions.” - Colette Courtion, Joylux Founder & CEO
💸 Topline Pro grabs $5M to help home service businesses scale online - Shannon Kay is a co-founder of the US-based company. The seed round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from TMV, BBG Ventures and angel investors.
💸 Tiny Health Raises $4.5M to Launch Its Gut Health Test Tailored to Expecting Parents and Infants - Founded and led by Cheryl Sew Hoy, Tiny Health plans to launch the first at-home microbiome gut test to help parents monitor and optimize babies’ gut health development starting from conception.
“Our primary customers are parents who are looking to understand the root causes of their child’s colic, sleep struggles, digestive or immune-mediated issues (…) not just be handed more prescriptions. Parents can be empowered by a better understanding of what’s going on in their baby’s gut, giving them greater control over their family’s health, guided by the latest research. We believe that our evidence-based insights can help improve health outcomes of future generations.” - Cheryl Sew Hoy
💸 Nigerian proptech SmallSmall raises $3M to provide flexible living solutions for customers - The Lagos-based company, co-founded by Naomi Olaghere, gives renters access to monthly rent payments and offers landlords a way to vet tenants, increase their income and manage properties.
💸 Aavia partners up with 776 to help Gen Z turn their hormones into their superpower - Aagya Mathur (CEO) and Aya Suzuki (Head of Design & Experience) are two of Aavia’s co-founders. The startup is on a mission to help people connect the dots between their hormones and how they feel. Learn more.
👀 Lessons from working with 100+ angels — what founders need to know - By Miruna-Ioana Girtu, VC investor at SyndicateRoom
📣 Shout out to Renee Gauthe, co-founder of African Puzzle, a startup on a mission to solve customer management problems of micro size businesses in Africa.
VC & PE: 💸 RH Capital Raises over $40M to Tackle Reproductive and Maternal Health Equity in the U.S. - Female-led impact venture capital firm RH Capital has raised an oversubscribed second fund, bringing its total assets under management to over $40 million to tackle reproductive and maternal health equity. Tara Health Foundation, Skoll Foundation, The Impact Seat Foundation, Houssian Foundation, Argosy Foundation and The Case for Her are among the fund’s lead investors.
“Now, more than ever, is the time to invest in new science and disruptive technologies that can address the vast unmet needs in women’s health. Since the Dobbs decision, we have doubled down on our investment strategy in pregnancy prevention and improving maternal health outcomes, and we’ve seen investor interest skyrocket.” - Stasia Obremskey, Managing Director of RH Capital
💸 Privilège Ventures launches $20M fund investing in women-led startups - The Lugano, Switzerland-based venture capital fund Privilège Ventures launched its fourth fund of CHF 20 million (just over $20 million), earmarked for women-led early-stage startups across Europe.
“We don’t just want to support women. The data shows women in the driver’s seat produce better ROI.” - Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch, founding general partner at Privilège Ventures
💸 Nordic VC Inventure closes €150m fund and opens for angel investments - Ekaterina Gianelli is an investment partner and runs the angel programme for the firm.
🙌🏼 More than 70 VC firms join VCs for Repro coalition to support reproductive rights - Bloomberg Beta, 776, and M13 are among the now over 85 venture capital firms that supported the launch of VCs for Repro, a coalition arguing that criminalizing abortion violates human rights and is anti-innovation. The initiative is spearheaded by Backstage Capital general partner Christie Pitts and Synastry Capital president Janna Meyrowitz Turner.
🌐 Meagan Loyst, the 25-year-old founder of Gen Z VCs, is leaving her investing role at Lerer Hippeau to focus on the online community full-time (Business Insider $) - Read more about Meagan’s plans here.
👩🏻💻 Female founding teams remain resolute amid mounting economic pressures - Pitchbook’s 2022 All In Report breaks down the data on female founders and investors’ successes and challenges, by US metro area, sector, and exit activity.
🤩 How Serena Williams brings her killer instinct to early-stage investing
“We spend a lot of our time in consumer-facing technology because we want to build products for the communities we want to serve (…) We spend a lot of time on gender and racial equity within the healthcare system, mental health and wellness. These are problems that are facing every community, but especially facing women and people of color, there’s not enough tools and services there for them.” - Serena Williams
Politics: 🇩🇰 Denmark Elects Record 44% Women to Parliament With Female PM Set to Win Another Term - Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen resigned (even though her Social Democrats party won the most votes) stating that she wants to form a new government with broader support to bridge the country’s political divide.
🤱🏽 The “Marshall Plan for Moms” builds an army of single-issue voters - Reshma Saujani, CEO and founder of the Marshall Plan for Moms, is galvanizing voters, employers and officials to support politicians who promise to expand child care benefits
Women’s & Family Health: 👉🏼 The changing policy landscape for Women’s Health: Where are the opportunities for founders? - By Olivia Brooks (Investor at Founders Factory), Jasmin Thomas (Founder of CBD skincare product Ohana), Kenia Popkin (Investor at Apeiron), and Omar Daniel (Partner at Harbr Ventures)
👩🏽⚕️ How reproductive technology is changing what it means to be a parent
“Advances in reproductive technologies are forcing us to reconsider what it means to be a parent—even at the genetic level. IVF allows would-be parents to use eggs and sperm donated by others, who may or may not have a role in the life of the resulting child. But it’s not just IVF. Technologies that result in babies with three genetic parents are already in use. And others that enable four or more genetic parents could be available in the near future.” - Jessica Hamzelou, senior reporter at MIT Technology Review
🤓 Why this UCLA professor is studying female animals to gain insights into women’s health - Features Dr Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, a UCLA cardiologist and researcher who studies animals to gain insights into human biology.
“If we can move from an androcentric, anthropocentric view to a sex-, gender-, and species-spanning perspective, then we can do good.” - Dr Barbara Natterson-Horowitz,
Mobility: 🚗 The crash dummy aimed at protecting women drivers - A team of Swedish engineers, led by Dr Astrid Linder, has developed the first dummy (technical term: seat evaluation tool) designed on the body of the average woman. With a height of 162cm (5ft 3ins) and weighing 62kg (9st 7lbs), it is more representative of the female population than the standard dummy that has been used since the 1970s.
Fashion x Tech: 👗Ralph Lauren’s former digital chief launches Web3 fashion platform - Alice Delahunt who oversaw first-of-their-kind digital projects at Burberry and Ralph Lauren, is the founder of Syky, a blockchain-enabled platform that aims to bridge the gap between emerging digital fashion talent, the mainstream fashion industry and consumers.
👙 This College Dropout’s $200 Million Company Is Changing How Gen Z Buys Underwear - Features Cami Tellez, Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Parade, a sustainable underwear brand valued at $200 million.
“For a long time, the arc of American femininity has been very tied to the underwear brands that are leading at any particular age. I think that it’s fair to say that the underwear category incumbents have created a generation of body dysmorphia and have failed to truly connect emotionally with women.” - Cami Tellez
Music & Culture: 🎶 Taylor Swift First Artist Ever to Lock Down the 10 Top Spots in the Hot 100 in One Week - Taylor Swift became the first artist to claim all top 10 spots on Billboard's Hot 100 songs chart in a single week. All 13 songs from her new "Midnights" album ranked in the top 15.
🎥 Margot Robbie Is a Force of Change in Hollywood (WSJ $) - The Australian actor and producer, Robbie and her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment (projects include ‘I,Tonya,’‘Barbie’) are putting female storytelling first.
🎼 How Hildur Guðnadóttir Became the Key to This Year’s Best Movies - An excellent profile of Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker’s Oscar-winning composer and the musical force behind Tár and Women Talking
Sports: ⚽ Women’s Sports Get Their Own TV Network Via New Streaming Outlet - Fast Studios launched the Women’s Sports Network, a streaming service for game highlights, original shows, and documentaries, with plans to add live matches and tournaments to its lineup, starting in January of next year.
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
‘We Thought You Were Going to be a Good Girl’: Two Foreign Policy Dynamos Confront the Male World Order - Features Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Gayle Smith, head of the ONE Campaign. Also, read Kamala Harris finds her footing. She’s still looking to break through.
Few private equity firms place women in important investing jobs - Women land 48% of entry-level roles in private equity, yet their representation in leading investing roles is much lower.
Women Globally Retire With a Quarter Less Wealth Than Men - A new study published by Willis Towers Watson shows that women around the world retire with a quarter less wealth than men. The gap is highest among the most-skilled.
Thank you for reading FemWealth! 🥰 If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with a friend! Have a lovely Sunday!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth