💸 Reach Capital Launches New Funds to Back EdTech Startups in the US, Europe & Latin America
FemWealth Issue #106
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded by Jennifer Carolan, Shauntel Garvey, Wayee Chu, and Esteban Sosnik, Reach Capital - one of the first venture capital firms focused exclusively on edtech - announced the launch of its new $215 million fund to back early-stage startups focused on expanding access to opportunity through education and economic mobility.
“People who are writing checks are oftentimes going to have a bias and invest in people that look like them. What helps change that is actually diversifying the check writers.” - Shauntel Garvey, co-founder of Reach Capital
With the new fund, its fourth and largest to date, the San Francisco-based firm aims to invest in companies located in the US and abroad, with a specific focus on Latin America.
Since its founding in 2011, the firm funded over 130 edtech startups, including Handshake (valued at $3.5 billion), Paper (valued at $1.7 billion), Replit, and ClassDojo.
Ranked as one of the most diverse investment firms in the US, of the more than 100 founders backed by Reach Capital, 36% are women, approx. 16% are Latinx, and 4% are Black.
The firm also announced its first founders’ fund - Reach Founders Fund. With $4 million capital commitments from 40+ founders of portfolio companies, it enables participating founders to invest in and mentor founders of other startups. It also aims to introduce venture capital to a broad set of people and strengthen the ecosystem of edtech entrepreneurs.
Read more: In edtech, history matters: Reach Capital just closed its largest fund to date
One Of The Most Diverse VC Firms In The U.S. Raises $215 Million To Invest In Education Tech
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: After a turbulent few years for home fitness, Tonal gets fresh funding and new CEO - Led by Krystal Zell, who stepped into the CEO role nine months after joining the company, Tonal raised $130 million. L Catterton led the round, joined by Cobalt, Dragoneer, Kindred Ventures, and THVC.
Everstream, which applies big data to supply chain management, raises $50M - Led by Julie Gerdeman, the US-based global supply chain insights and risk analytics firm raised $50m in a Series B funding round.
Honeycomb scores $50M investment as observability platform thrives - The US-based company, co-founded by Christine Yen (CEO) and Charity Majors (CTO), raised a series D round led by Headline, with participation from existing investors Scale Venture Partners, Insight Partners, NextWorld Capital, Storm Ventures, and Industry Ventures.
The UK’s myenergi secures £30 million to drive development and production of smart home energy products - The company, co-founded by Jordan Marie Brompton (CMO), raised £30 million in a debt funding round provided by HSBC UK.
Tally Health Raises $10M to Make Science-Backed Longevity Accessible - Led by Melanie Goldey, the US-based consumer-focused biotechnology company takes a holistic approach to improving longevity. The seed funding round was led by Kirsten Green’s Forerunner Ventures, with additional participation by L Catterton, G9 Ventures, and celebrities including John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Pedro Pascal, Shonda Rhimes, Kevin Hart, Rich Roll, Whitney Cummings, and Zac Efron.
CTRL Therapeutics Launches with $10M Seed Financing to Advance Next-Generation Cell Therapy Platform for the Treatment of Solid Tumors - Shana Kelley, Ph.D. is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of the Chicago-based cell therapy platform development company for treating solid tumors. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Intermountain Health, FACIT, and others.
Clue Adds €7M in Funding to Scale Its Family Planning Offering - The Berlin-based reproductive health company secured €7M in funding to support its growth and product development. Founded by Ida Tin in 2012, Clue is now co-led by Audrey Tsang and Carrie Walter. Existing investors Balderton Capital and Union Square Ventures led the funding round.
DBeaver takes $6M seed investment to build on growing popularity - Led by Tatiana Krupenya, DBeaver is an open-source administrative tool that allows anyone to access data from various sources. Headline led the seed round with participation from PTV.
Alternative seafood startup Aqua Cultured Foods reels in $5.5M - Founded and led by Anne Palermo, the Chicago-based startup raised $5.5 million in seed funding to bring its pipeline of cultivated seafood alternatives to market.
Ampersand helps SaaS companies build their customer-facing integrations, raises $4.7M - Co-founded by Lauren Long, the San Francisco-based developer platform raised $4.7 million in seed funding. Matrix Partners led the round and was joined by Base Case Capital, Flex Capital, and 2.12 Angels.
Flyby Secures $4M Pre-Seed, Launches Its Drone Delivery Tech - The LA-based company co-founded by Cat Orman (COO) develops end-to-end solutions for automated drone delivery. It secured a $4 million pre-seed round led by MaC Venture Capital.
Shuttlers raises $4M to fuel its shared mobility solution across Nigeria - Co-founded and led by Damilola Olokesusi, the Nigerian shared mobility company allows individual and corporate passengers to take rides on multiple bus routes via an app. It raised $4 million in a new funding round led by Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV).
Alga Biosciences wants to help climate change, one bovine burp at a time - Co-founded by Caroline McKeon (Chief Scientific Officer) and Daria Balatsky (Chief Technology Officer), Alga Biosciences produces a new feed for cows that significantly reduces burping. The company raised $4 million in funding from Collaborative Fund, Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Cool Climate Collective, Pioneer Fund, Overview Capital, a.o.
Eli Health Raises $3.6M to Take Its At-Home Hormone Monitoring Solution Toward Commercial Launch - The Canadian healthtech company, co-founded by Marina Pavlovic Rivas, is developing a saliva-based hormone testing solution. It raised $3.7M in new funding.
Governance SaaS platform Kuberno scores £3.5m - Co-founded by CEO Zoe Bucknell, the London-based global legal entity SaaS provider raised £3.5m in a Series A round led by Nasdaq Ventures.
Zealy is an achievement system for web3 communities - The France-based company, co-founded by Fredrika Lindh, enables companies to engage with their communities. It raised €3.5M in funding from investors including Redalpine, Connect Ventures, AGLAÉ VENTURES, Kima Ventures, a.o.
Sensate Raises $3.2M Seed Round on a Mission to Reduce the Effects of Stress and Expand Access to Wellness, Worldwide - Co-founded and led by Anna Gudmundson, the California-based wellness technology company has created a patented relaxation device and app.
Helping children reduce anxiety when it comes to surgery, Little Journey raises $3.1 million - Sophie Copley is a co-founder of the UK-based company offering an eSupport platform designed to psychologically prepare and support children undergoing healthcare procedures and their families.
AI Musician-Collaboration and File-Sharing Startup Myxt Announces $2 Million Seed Raise: ‘Audio Creators Have Been Left Behind - The San Francisco-based collaborative audio workplace app, co-founded by Sheena Pakanati, announced its launch and $2 million in seed funding led by Accel and Quiet Capital.
Female-led biotech start-up raises £1.27m to develop drug delivery technology for cancer therapy - Founded and led by Dr. Vineeta Tripathi, Vitarka Therapeutics, a London-based preclinical biotech start-up, aims to help combat late-stage cancers.
AirTree backs generative AI content creation and management platform Narrato - The San Francisco-based AI content creation and collaboration platform, founded and led by Australian serial entrepreneur Sophia Solanki, raised a $1 million pre-seed round led by AirTree Ventures.
Lithuanian AI-powered startup secures €1.1 million in a seed funding - Led by Simona Vasytė-Kudakauskė, the AI imagery startup raised €1.1 million in seed funding from CoInvest Capital, OCC, and Lithuanian Business Angel Network LitBAN syndicate, a.o.
Ukrainian startup Zeely raises $1M for SMB growth app aimed at US, UK, Brazil, Mexico - Co-founded by Alina Bondarenko (CCO), Zeely is an AI-powered mobile web store and ad builder that helps small business owners start selling online.
250+ female angel investors in Europe - A comprehensive list of active female angel investors in Europe, created by Sifted.
VC: In a slowing market, venture investor Canaan still closes $850M across two new funds - The US VC firm secured $850 million in capital commitments across two new funds: a $650 million flagship fund (its 13th) and a $200 million fund to support its breakaway portfolio companies. Maha Ibrahim is a longtime general partner at the firm.
Talking with Future Ventures about its new fund, AI hype and Siri sucking (still) - The US-based firm, co-founded by Maryanna Saenko, closed a $200 million (third) fund.
Varde Founder Closes First Fund Betting on Women Money Managers - Marcia Page’s MPowered Capital closed its first round at $110 million, aiming to back women and minority alternative-asset managers.
4impact Capital launches €100M Fund II to support early-stage digital tech4good ventures - The Netherlands-based VC firm, co-founded by Pauline Wink and Kate Mullord, announced the launch of its second fund aiming to support early-stage digital tech4good ventures in Europe. The fund completed its first close with a target of €100 million.
Everywhere Ventures Bucks Trend by Investing Globally (WSJ $) - Jenny Fielding is a Manager Partner of the US-based firm. With a $25 million new fund, a global thesis, and refreshed brand, Everywhere Ventures aims to back pre-seed founders worldwide.
Janet Bannister Launches Staircase Ventures with $22 Million First Close - Janet Bannister, a former Managing Partner at Real Ventures, launched her own venture capital fund, having secured a first close of $22 million. The firm aims to back Canadian B2B software startups at the seed stage.
Overwater Ventures raises $20M debut VC fund - The firm led by Kristina Simmons (ex-a16z, Khosla Ventures) raised $20m for its debut fund to support founders commercializing science and technology for human and planet health.
“We’re all about helping founders to turn breakthrough technology and science into brands that people love and help them to scale their businesses. I plan to build a firm that the next generation of entrepreneurs want to take capital from.” - Kristina Simmons
Erin Foster, Sara Foster form Oversubscribed Ventures to invest in consumer tech - Features Erin Foster and Sara Foster, entrepreneurs, sisters, and founding partners of Oversubscribed Ventures.
Women’s Wealth: Françoise Bettencourt Meyers Is The Richest Woman In The World - Features Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, businesswoman, heiress, and Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of L’Oréal Group. She ranks as the world’s richest woman and the 11th wealthiest person overall.
Women are earning more money. But they’re still picking up a heavier load at home - A new report published by the Pew Research Center shows that “egalitarian marriages” are on the rise in the US - in 29% of heterosexual marriages, husbands and wives each contribute roughly half of the couple’s combined earnings. However, women in opposite-sex marriages still do more housework and caregiving than men.
Thank you for reading FemWealth! Enjoy your Sunday & have a successful week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth