💸 Oriana Papin-Zoghbi's AOA Dx Raises $17M to Fund Ovarian Cancer Diagnostic Test
FemWealth Issue #131
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In today’s edition: Oriana Papin-Zoghbi’s AOA Dx closed $17 Million to fund ovarian cancer diagnostic test; PE industry veteran Joelle Kayden’s Accolade Partners raised $325 million in capital commitments to invest in venture and growth-equity funds run by minority and female managers; Harvard professor Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in Economics; and more in women-led startups and VC.
Submit a deal, and share news tips and feedback at femwealth@substack.com.
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded and led by Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, AOA Dx, a US-based liquid-biopsy startup closed a $17 million round to fund ovarian cancer diagnostic test.
“As much as 80 percent of women are not diagnosed with ovarian cancer until stage III or IV, despite 84 percent of women showing symptoms as early as stage I. The survival rate only stands at 28 percent after stage I or II, underscoring the paramount importance of diagnosing patients at an earlier, more treatable stage.”
“When I started this company, I set out on a path where there are huge unmet needs in diagnostics for women. Like many aspects of women’s health, these areas remain underresearched and underfunded. Our mission is to concentrate not only on women’s health but also on conditions that disproportionately affect women.” - Oriana Papin-Zoghbi (via Endpoints News)
Good Growth Capital led the round, joined by RH Capital, Y Combinator, Astia, Adaptive Capital Partners, Gore Range Capital, and others.
Read more here and also check out the FemWealth Founder’s Story interview featuring Oriana Papin-Zoghbi.
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Pair Eyewear sets its peepers on international expansion following $75M Series C - Co-founded and co-led by Sophia Edelstein, the US-based direct-to-consumer customizable eyewear brand, raised $75 million in new Series C funding. Prysm Capital led the round, joined by existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Javelin Venture Partners, and NFL player Christian McCaffrey.
Novartis, Bristol Myers back $61M Series A raise for dementia biotech AstronauTx - Co-founded by Ruth McKernan, London-based AstronauTx secured £48 million ($61 million) in a Series A round to advance its preclinical pipeline of small-molecule drugs for neurodegenerative conditions. Novartis Venture Fund led the round, with participation from Bristol Myers Squibb, EQT Life Sciences, and Brandon Capital.
Armed with $40M in fresh capital, fintech Stash says it’s moving toward an IPO - Led by Liza Landsman, Stash is a US-based personal finance app that aims to make investing easy and affordable. It raised $40 million in convertible debt, led by existing backer T. Rowe Price, with participation from Union Square Ventures and Goodwater Capital, and other investors.
myenergi secures another £30M for smart home energy solutions - Co-founded by Jordan Brompton (CMO), the UK-based smart home energy technology manufacturer secured a £30 million investment from Energy Impact Partners (EIP).
Scope3 Raises $20 Million to Expand Business Measuring Digital Ads’ Emissions - The New York startup, co-founded by Anne Coghlan (COO), aims to help marketers and publishers understand and reduce emissions associated with their digital ads. It raised a $20 million Series B round led by GV, with additional support from Room40 Ventures and Venrock.
Bon Vivant toasts taking $15.9M to brew up versatile animal-free dairy proteins - Co-founded by Hélène Briand, the France-based precision fermentation startup uses biotech techniques to reprogram yeast microorganisms to produce animal-free milk proteins with a lower environmental footprint than traditional dairy. Sofinnova Partners and Sparkfood co-led the company’s Seed round, joined by Captech Santé, and existing investors.
Untangled Finance to tokenise private credit assets with $13.5M funding - Co-founded by Manrui Tang, UK-based fintech startup Untangled Finance secured $13.5 million to offer investors access to institutional-grade assets via blockchain technology. Fasanara Capital led the funding round.
This Startup’s AI Is Used By Billion Dollar Companies To Hire Top Talent - Founded and led by Nancy Xu, Moonhub helps companies source, hire, and scale teams with dedicated AI-powered recruiters. The US-based startup secured $10 million in Seed funding from Khosla Ventures and GV, alongside Time Ventures, Day One Ventures, and angel investors, including Susan Wojcicki (former YouTube CEO).
Plenful raises $9M to automate healthcare workflows - Co-founded and led by Joy Liu, the US-based startup is developing workflow automation tools for healthcare providers. It emerged from stealth with $9 million in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace Pickle picks up $8 million - Co-founded by COO Julia O’Mara, the New York-based peer-to-peer fashion marketplace enables users to earn passive income by renting their clothes. It raised an $8 million Seed round co-led by FirstMark Capital and Craft Ventures, with participation from Burst Capital.
Data and analytics insurtech Vellum Insurance raises $7 million (Axios Pro $) - Co-founded and led by Julianna Muir, the New York-based startup is building an AI-based platform to help insurers and reinsurers measure risk in their portfolios. It raised a $7 million Seed round led by Acrew Capital, with Flourish Ventures, Fin Capital, Vera Equity, Endurance, and 1 Sharpe Ventures also joining.
Wanda Fish navigates VC waters to catch $7M for production of cultivated bluefin tuna - Co-founded and led by Daphna Heffetz, the Tel Aviv-based food tech startup aims to produce cell-based fish meat, starting with bluefin tuna. It raised a $7 million round led by Aqua-Spark with contributions from previous investors The Kitchen Hub, Peregrine Ventures, LLC, PICO Venture Partners, MOREVC, and CPT Capital.
Flourish Labs seeds $6.6M for mental health peer support (Axios Pro $) - Founded and led by Obi Felten, the San Francisco-based startup offers mental health support to teenagers and young adults from trained peers. It raised a $6.6 million Seed round co-led by Gradient Ventures and Collaborative Fund, joined by WGU, Learn Capital, and One Mind.
Carbon Equity raises €6M, making climate venture capital accessible - Co-founded by Jacqueline van den Ende (CEO), Lara Koole (Chief Investment / Operating Officer), and Liza Rubinstein Malamud (Head of Impact), Carbon Equity is a Dutch impact investing startup. It secured €6 million in funding to enable small ticket access to top climate venture capital and growth equity funds. BlackFin Capital Partners led the company’s Series A round, with participation from existing investor 4Impact.
Care coordination startup Ounce rolls out services to low-income residents in D.C. alongside partners - Co-founded and led by Rachel Munsie, the US-based startup focuses on bridging the gap between health and housing. It raised $5.2 million in Seed funding in a round co-led by Meridian Street Capital and Flare Capital, joined by Chelsea Clinton’s Metrodora Ventures, Wilshire Lane Capital, and angel investors.
Zest Equity, a UAE-based startup digitizing private market deals, raises $3.8M seed funding - Co-founded by Rawan Baddour, Zest Equity is building digital infrastructure to empower private market transactions, specifically enabling ecosystem players like founders and venture capitalists to transact fast and openly online. Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) led the company’s Seed round with participation from the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF), and DASH Ventures.
Ostium Labs’ $3.5M funding fuels launch of real-world asset trading hub - Co-founded by Kaledora Kiernan-Linn, Ostium Labs raised $3.5 million for its decentralised exchange for real-world assets. General Catalyst and LocalGlobe led the round which included funding from SIG, DeFi Alliance, Balaji Srinivasan (former Coinbase CTO), Vessel Capital, and others.
TabbyML, an open source challenger to GitHub Copilot, raises $3.2 million - Co-founded by Lucy Gao, tabbyML provides an open source code generator. Yunqi Partners and ZooCap participated in the company’s Seed round.
YC-backed Elyos raises $3m — though the accelerator’s climate tech focus wanes - Philippa Brown is a co-founder and COO of Elyos Energy, a London-based startup working on energy optimisation for commercial buildings (businesses, hotels, hospitals, schools, etc). It secured a $3 million Seed round from Rebel Fund, Zeno Partners, Endgame Capital, and YCombinator.
MDisrupt Secures $3M in Seed Funding for Its Platform Connecting Companies with Healthcare Experts - Co-founded and led by Ruby Gadelrab, MDisrupt offers a platform where healthtech and life science companies can connect with specialized healthcare expertise on demand. The Venture Collective, Capita3, 3plus VC, Geek Ventures, and Mindshift Capital, a.o. participated in the company’s Seed funding round.
London AI startup TitanML bags $2.8M launching AI-Powered LLM tool Titan Takeoff - Co-founded by Meryem Arik, TitanML raised $2.8 million in Pre-Seed funding and launched Titan Takeoff, an AI-powered tool to make large language model (LLM) deployment faster, cheaper, and simpler. Octopus Ventures led the round with participation from angel investors.
Fifth Dimension AI Raises £2.3 Million Pre-Seed Round to Amplify the Exceptional in Real Estate Professionals - Co-founded by Dr. Kate Jarvis, the London-based startup launched Ellie, an AI-powered co-pilot that automates the boring parts of jobs in document-heavy industries, starting with real estate. Anthemis’ Female Innovators Lab Fund and Seedcamp co-led the company’s Pre-Seed round, with participation from Ascension Ventures Ltd, Concrete VC, Love Ventures, Twin Path Ventures, and Sie Ventures.
Flaus Raises $2M for its Electric Flosser That Will Keep Your Teeth and Gums Cleaner Than Ever Before - Founded and led by Samantha Coxe, Flaus is a direct-to-consumer oral health brand that offers the world’s first electric flosser. It raised a $2 million Seed round led by Yeti Capital, including Greenlight Ventures, and USC Venture Fund.
Greek startup Langaware raises €2M for cognitive health diagnostics expansion - Founded and led by Vassiliki Rentoumi, Langaware is a Greek startup that uses AI technology to predict and monitor cognitive and mental health conditions (e.g. mild cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression). It raised a €2 million Seed round led by Eleven Ventures, with participation from Metavallon VC.
Fave, the app for superfans, raises $2M as it continues to reward users for their obsessions - Founded and led by Jacquelle Amankonah Horton, Fave is a social platform dedicated to superfans. It secured $2 million in an ongoing round targeting $6 million. Female Founders Fund, Warner Music, Sony Music, Xoogler.co, Goodwater, Gaingels, and angel investors participated in the round.
Ergo’s Shopify app gives online retailers joy of bartering without the hassle - Founded and led by Claire Stepanek, Ergo is building a B2B pricing software that enables shoppers to make pricing offers directly on products and gives retailers pricing insights. The US-based company raised $1.5 million in Pre-Seed funding from Anthemis and Wischoff Ventures.
Estonian real-time soil insights startup Paul-Tech bags €1.4M to sow seeds in the UK market - Eve Plakk and Anu Einberg are co-founders of the Estonian agritech startup which provides farmers and land managers with real-time insights to improve their soil management. Superangel led the company’s €1.4 million round, with participation from SmartCap, Honey Badger Capital, the Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Tatoli AS, Overkill VC, and angel investors.
Making awkward IOUs a thing of the past Estonia’s Cino raises €1.4M - Co-founded by Elena Churilova (CEO) and Lina Saleh (COO), the Estonian fintech startup facilitates group payments by turning them into a social experience. Tera Ventures, APX, and Atomico participated in the company’s €1.4 million funding round.
€1.25M investment in The Selection Lab reinforces future of objective hiring practices - Co-founded and led by Lotte Welten, the Dutch candidate assessment startup provides an HR tool that integrates with existing software to analyse soft skills for objective hiring. It raised €1.25 million in a funding round led by Borski Fund and joined by Arches Capital.
VC & PE: Accolade Partners Raises $325 Million to Back Venture Funds Led by Women, Minorities (WSJ Pro $) - Led by PE industry veteran Joelle Kayden, Accolade Partners raised $325 million in capital commitments to invest in venture and growth-equity funds run by minority and female managers.
European B2B investor Hi Inov collects €75m for third fund - Co-founded and co-led by Valerie Gombart, Franco-German VC Hi Inov raised €75 million for a third fund, with a target of €150 million. It aims to back companies at Series A and B, with ticket sizes in the range of €2 million to €6 million, and up to €15 million.
Michigan’s Grand Ventures announces $50M early-stage fund - Co-led by Managing Partner Camila Noordeloos, Grand Ventures aims to lead Seed-stage investments in startups solving problems in the fintech, DevOps, and supply chain sectors, with a geographical focus on the Midwest, central Canada and beyond.
Kingspan’s Louise Foody heads €20M venture fund and accelerator for constructiontech - Louise Foody (previously Kingspan’s former Global Marketing Director and Director of Digital) is Managing Director of covolve, an Irish venture fund aiming to digitise the construction industry. The fund launched with an initial €20 million in capital commitments.
ALIAVIA Ventures fights gender funding inequalities in the US and Australia - Founded and led by Marisa Warren and Kate Vale, ALIAVIA is on a mission to close the funding gap for female founders by investing in female-led startups, with a particular focus on companies that aim to bridge the Australian and American markets. The firm closed its first fund of $13.5 million AUD ($8.7 million USD). It will back Australian and American Pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups with at least one female founder building a B2B or B2C tech company, in verticals including health tech, fintech, edtech, HR tech, media, and entertainment. Ticket sizes will range between $250,000 and $750,000, with follow-on funding opportunities.
California passes law mandating VC firms to release investments’ diversity information - The new law, which goes into effect on March 1, 2025, will require VC firms in California to annually report the diversity of the founders they are backing. It is the United States’ first piece of legislation aimed at increasing diversity in the venture capital ecosystem.
Economics: Harvard professor Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in Economics “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labor market outcomes.” She is the third woman to win the prize and the first solo honoree.
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth