💸 Morgan O'hana's Defacto Brings Instant, Flexible Financing to SMBs with a 10M€ Series A Top-Up
FemWealth Issue #136
Hi FemWealth Friends!
In today’s edition: Morgan O’hana’s Defacto raised €10M in a Series A extension round to provide instant, flexible financing to SMBs in Europe; Chloe Marie Songer’s fashion recycling platform SuperCircle raised a $7M pre-Series A round; Tamar Huggins’s Tech Spark raised a $1.4M Pre-Seed round to develop a Black-owned alternative to current AI search platforms; Anu Hariharan launched Avra, a new growth fund targeting to raise $350M; Mira Murati was elevated from CTO to interim CEO at Open AI; and more.
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In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded by Morgan O’hana, Paris-based Defacto is on a mission to provide instant, flexible financing to SMBs in Europe. Its API-first product enables third parties such as B2B marketplaces, fintechs, and other digital platforms (including Malt, Qonto, Pennylane, and Libeo) to embed the financing solution directly in their products.
Defacto’s dynamic team of highly skilled and experienced female business executives sets it apart from many European fast-growing companies. Co-founder Morgan O’hana who leads partnerships, is joined by Charlotte Gounot who is in charge of funding, prudential, and compliance, and Christina Bassinet-Cooper, who is responsible for customer experience.
The company raised an additional €10 million in a Series A extension round from new investor Citi Ventures and existing investors Northzone, Headline, and Global Founders Capital.
Read the full story below:
💸 Morgan O'hana's Defacto Brings Instant, Flexible Financing to SMBs with a 10M€ Series A Top-Up
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: MBrace Therapeutics Raises $85 Million Series B Financing to Advance Oncology Pipeline of Innovative Antibody Drug Conjugate Candidates - Co-founded by Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., MBrace Therapeutics is a US-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic agents for patients with cancer. It raised an $85 million Series B round led by TPG, with participation from Avidity Partners, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Venrock, and Alta Partners.
Nouscom raises $72m in Series C financing round to develop cancer vaccines - Led by Marina Udier-Blagovic, the Switzerland-based company is developing engineered viral vector vaccines to treat cancer. It raised a $73.4 million Series C round co-led by Andera Partners, Bpifrance, and M Ventures, with participation from Revelation Partners, Indaco Venture Partners, Panakès Partners, X-Gen Ventures, 5AM Ventures, EQT Life Sciences, and Versant Ventures.
Bezi raises $13M to enable user-generated and collaborative 3D design - Co-founded by Cecilia Uhr, Bezi is a US-based collaborative 3D design tool. It raised $13 million in funding to democratize the creation of 3D experiences and enable more user-generated content. Benchmark led the round which also included Uncork Capital and Designer Fund, alongside notable founders and design leaders.
Rental Marketplace Dwellsy Raises $11.5 Million in Oversubscribed Round - Co-founded by Rosalind Bordo, US-based Dwellsy operates a marketplace with 14 million individual rental home and apartment listings. It raised an $11.5 million Seed round led by Ulu Ventures, with additional support from the University of Chicago, Frontiers Capital, Heroic Ventures, and NJP Ventures.
French biotech Toopi Organics snaps €8.4 million to spread urine upcycling for agriculture across the EU - Led by Alexandra Carpentier, France-based Toopi Organics is a biotech company that develops plant biostimulants from the fermentation of human urine to use as a fertiliser. It received €8.4 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) accelerator.
Revenue based financing marketplace Levenue raises €8M, acquires Belgian fintech Cake - Co-founded by Zahra Alubudi (COO), Dutch fintech Levenue raised €8 million in Series A funding round. Truffle Capital led the round, with Freshmen Fund also participating.
Fashion Recycling Platform SuperCircle Raises $7 Million - Co-founded and led by Chloe Marie Songer, the US-based fashion recycling platform helps brands and retailers recycle their old clothes and reduce textile waste. It raised a $7 million pre-Series A round co-led by Radicle Impact and Ulu Ventures, joined by Earthshot Ventures, BBG Ventures, Lyra Ventures, and Blueprint Ventures.
Fortuna Health Raises $4M Financing Led by Andreessen Horowitz to Simplify Medicaid Navigation - Co-founded Nikita Singareddy, the US-based startup provides a consumer-first platform for navigating Medicaid end-to-end from eligibility and enrollment to recertification. It raised a $4 million Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health, with participation from BoxGroup and Y Combinator.
Layer Health gets $4M to unearth data in clinical notes (Axios Pro $) - Co-founded by Divya Gopinath, Layer Health employs Large Language Models (LLMs) and natural language processing to help healthcare providers unearth insights from written medical records. It raised a $4 million Seed round from Google Ventures, General Catalyst, and Inception Health.
Morf Health Raises $3M Seed Round to Make Automating Healthcare Operations Easy - Co-founded and led by Montana Scher, Morf Health is on a mission to empower healthcare providers to focus on patient care. Its integration platform allows healthcare providers to sync patient data and build custom workflow automations across their tools, eliminating tedious manual processes. The US-based company raised a $3 million Seed round led by Kindred Ventures with participation from Uncommon Capital and Asymmetric Capital Partners.
Cult Mia Secures Over $3 Million In First-Round Seed Funding - Founded and led by Nina Briance, London-based Cult Mia is an online fashion marketplace building a platform to discover sustainable and conscious independent designers. It raised a €2.8 million Seed round led by Fuel Ventures and joined by investors including David Wertheimer, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Group, and Womankind Ventures.
Siena AI raises $4.7M to develop an empathic AI customer service agent - Co-founded by Lisa Popovici (CMO), Siena AI provides an autonomous customer service platform designed for commerce. Sierra Ventures, Pari Passu Ventures, Spacestation Investments, Village Global, The Council, and OpenSky Ventures participated in the round.
Nema Health seeds $4M for virtual trauma therapy (Axios Pro $) - Co-founded by Sofia Noori (CEO) and Mariam Malik (COO), the US-based company provides support to trauma victims. It raised a $4.1 million Seed round co-led by Optum Ventures and .406 Ventures, joined by GreyMatter Capital.
Resistomap raises €2M to combat global antibiotic resistance with intelligence platform - Founded and led by Windi Muziasari, Resistomap is developing an advanced biosecurity intelligence platform for the monitoring and prevention of antibiotic resistance. The Finland-based company raised a €2 million Seed funding round led by Ananda Impact Venture, which also included participation by Gaingel and a Business Finland R&D grant.
Italian startup CarpeCarbon to design DAC plant after €1.7M funding round - Co-founded by Chiara D’Adamo (COO), CarpeCarbon is Italy’s first climatetech startup working with Direct Air Capture technology. It raised €1.7 million to remove CO² from the atmosphere for reuse in industrial applications. CDP Venture Capital’s Tech4Planet initiative, 360 Capital, Club Degli Investitori network, and the PiemonteNext co-investment fund participated in the company’s Pre-Seed funding round.
BeMe Health Secures Funding, Launches Teen Mental Health Partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas - Co-founded and led by Nicoletta Tessler, Psy.D., BeMe Health is a US-based digital behavioral health company dedicated to delivering mental health interventions tailored specifically for teens. It raised a $1.5 million round from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
Tech Spark AI raises $1.4 million to create ChatGPT alternative - Founded and led by Tamar Huggins, the Toronto-based AI company raised a $1.4 million Pre-Seed round to develop a generative AI platform called Spark Plug. It aims to be a Black-owned alternative to current AI search platforms. TD Bank led the round, with participation from Salesforce, Canada’s government, and NBA Canada.
“Historically, Black people haven’t always felt like they belonged, and as a result, we’ve had to create our own spaces. Technology is no different. As long as we are including the voices of those systematically left out of the conversation, AI can take us in the right direction.” - Tamar Huggins, Founder and CEO, Tech Spark AI (via TechCrunch)
Pure Glow Announces Key Investment and Eyes National Expansion through Franchising - Founded by Lauren Rampello Becotte, Pure Glow, a US-based company that provides a spray tan alternative, raised $1.4 million in seed funding. Maripat Pacino led the round.
Online grocery startup Pricepally to expand in Nigeria backed by $1.3M funding - Co-founded by Mosun Lawoyin (CXO) and Jummai Abalaka (COO), Nigerian online grocery store for fresh produce and packaged food raised $1.3 million in Seed funding. Investors include Samurai Incubate, SOSV, ELEA, Hi2 Global, and Chui Ventures.
Mauj Secures $500K to Advance Women’s Sexual and Menstrual Wellness in the Middle East - Founded by two women from different areas in the Middle East, the Arabic sexual and menstrual wellness company aims to challenge the stigma and misinformation surrounding female sexuality in their region. It raised $500K in an Angel funding round. The Case for Her (TCFH), an impact fund co-founded by Cristina Ljungberg and focused on women’s health, participated in the round.
Why fundraising in sextech is so painful, and 4 strategies to make it less so - By Olena Petrosyuk, Partner at Waveup
To find success as a woman founder, embrace your scrappy side - Andrea Sommer, co-founder and CEO of Hive Founders, a global network and accelerator for women entrepreneurs
VC: Former YC Continuity head targets $350 million growth-stage fund - Anu Hariharan, who previously led YC Continuity, launched Avra, a new fund that is targeting to raise $350 million.
Female Founders Fund looks to raise $75 million for new fund (TechCrunch Plus $) - Founded and led by Anu Duggal, the New York-based VC firm filed with the SEC to start raising $75 million for its fourth and largest fund.
Sophie Winwood assumed the role of CEO at WVC, an organisation and community she co-founded with Ruth Foxe Blader. The organisation aims to promote inclusion, empowerment, and integration of venture capital globally.
Melinda French Gates: ‘It’s time to change the face of power in venture capital’
“By investing in women-led funds and early-stage companies, Pivotal wants to help transform the way that the venture capital industry looks at women of all backgrounds and unleash more market-based solutions to overlooked problems.” - Melinda French Gates is the founder of Pivotal Ventures
Women’s Health: Jill Biden announces a White House initiative focused on women’s health research: This ‘has been underfunded for decades’ - The White House launched the nation’s first initiative for women’s health research, which will be led by First Lady Jill Biden.
“Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades. Many conditions that mostly or only affect women, or affect women differently, have received little to no attention (…) These gaps are even greater for communities that have historically been excluded from research, including women of color and women with disabilities.” - Jill Biden
Business & Tech: Who Is Mira Murati, OpenAI’s New Interim CEO? - Mira Murati, who until Friday served as OpenAI’s CTO became interim CEO replacing founder Sam Altman.
A Fintech Titan In Community Banker’s Clothing - Features Lead Bank CEO Jackie Reses
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth