💸 Women-led Global Healthcare VC Vertex Ventures HC Launches $200M Third Fund
FemWealth Issue 117
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
In the Spotlight 💸
Women-led global healthcare investment firm Vertex Ventures HC (VVHC) launched its third and largest fund of $200 million, aiming to back early-stage life sciences and medical technology startups.
Lori Hu, a VVHC founding team member will co-lead the fund alongside Christine Brennan (previously at MRL Ventures Fund and Novartis Venture Fund) who joined the firm in 2022.
“As technology continues to reshape industries and science continues to advance, VVHC recognizes the tremendous potential of companies that hold promise for transforming healthcare and driving societal impact. As one of the few women-led funds in the healthcare sector, we are proud of our track record of success in supporting visionary entrepreneurs from company formation through exit.” - Lori Hu, Managing Director
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Author Health books $115M to treat seniors with serious mental illness - Led by CEO Katherine Hobbs, Author Health is a Boston-based provider of services for Medicare Advantage members with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. General Atlantic led the company’s latest funding round, joined by Flare Capital Partners.
Biotech AltPep scores around $53m in Series B funding round - Founded by CEO Valerie Daggett, the US-based amyloid diseases treatment solutions developer AltPep raised $52.9m in a Series B investment round led by Senator Investment Group.
Faros AI raises $20M to bring visibility to software engineering teams - Co-founded by Shubha Nabar, the platform for software engineers designed to bring key operational data into one place, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Lobby Capital led the round, with SignalFire, Salesforce Ventures, and Operator Collective also participating.
Dexory nabs $19M to bring visibility to warehouses through analytics and autonomous robots - Co-founded by Oana Andreea Jinga, Dexory serves warehouses with real-time inventory management data using AI software and autonomous robots. The UK-based company raised $19 million in a Series A round of funding led by Atomico, joined by Lakestar, Maersk Growth, Kindred Capital, and Capnamic.
Material Evolution raises $19M to decarbonise the cement industry - Co-founded and led by Dr. Elizabeth Gilligan, Material Evolution raised £15 million ($19 million) in a Series A funding round to scale the production of its low-carbon cement. Kompas VC led the round, with participation from Norrsken VC, Circle Rock, and SigmaRoc.
With a fresh €13.7 million in hand, Algorithmiq is poised to access the inaccessible in the world of drug discovery and development - Co-founded and led by Sabrina Maniscalco, the Finnish quantum-computing-based software company Algorithmiq aims to develop noise-resilient quantum algorithms specifically focused on the drug discovery and development market. It raised €13.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Inventure VC.
DePoly keeps hard-to-recycle plastic from ending up in landfills - DePoly, a Swiss deep tech startup, co-founded by CEO Samantha Anderson, converts all PET plastics and polyester textiles back into their main raw chemical components. It raised $13.8 million in seed funding, co-led by BASF Venture Capital and Wingman Ventures, with participation from Beiersdorf, Infinity Recycling, CIECH Ventures, and Angel Invest.
BeeKeeperAI secures $12.1m to bolster AI on private healthcare data - Mary Beth Chalk is a co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of BeeKeeperAI, a San Francisco-based zero-trust, collaboration software startup for developing and deploying AI for healthcare data. It raised a $12.1 million Series A round led by Sante Ventures, including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, AIX Ventures, Continuum Health Ventures, TA Group Holdings, and UCSF.
Khosla Ventures just doubled down on this handyman-on-demand service for homeowners - Co-founded by Avantika Prabhakara (former marketing head at Opendoor, Trulia, and Zillow), Honey Homes, a San Francisco-based startup for handymen-on-demand services, raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures.
Causely launches Causal AI for Kubernetes, raises $8.8M in seed funding - Led by CEO and founder Ellen Rubin, the Boston-based startup aims to revolutionize how businesses troubleshoot operational issues and manage application performance using causal AI technology. It raised an $8.8 million seed round led by 645 Ventures, with GlassWing Ventures, Tau Ventures, and earlier backer Amity Ventures also participating.
SOS Secures $7.6M from Wasserman Ventures and Urban Us Capital to Scale Its Smart Wellness Vending Machine Network - Co-led by founders Susanna Twarog and Robina Verbeek, SOS, a US-based company specializing in smart wellness vending machines, secured $7.6M in funding through strategic partnerships.
Fertifa enables companies to offer fertility and reproductive health benefits - Led by Eileen Burbidge (also a Partner at Passion Capital), Fertifa aims to enable more companies in Europe to offer reproductive benefits to workers. Fertility preservation, fertility planning, IVF, IUI and ICSI treatment cycles, contraception, surrogacy, and adoption, and care for menopause, endometriosis, PCOS, fibroids, and STIs are among the services that Fertifa facilitates. The UK-based startup raised a £5 million seed round (approx. $6.3 million USD) led by Notion Capital and Triple Point Ventures.
Beyond boxes and borders, Amsterdam’s employee relocation platform Settly raises €6 million - Co-founded by Marieke van Iperen, the Amsterdam-based startup provides digital relocation services and support solutions for HR teams. Marie Ekeland’s 2050 and Mediahuis Ventures provided the funding.
Airmo combines space and climate tech with emissions-monitoring satellites - Co-founded by Daria Stepanova (CEO) and Harriet von Kügelgen (CCO), the German startup plans to launch a 12-satellite constellation to monitor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the planet. The company announced today that it closed €5.2 million ($5.7 million) in pre-seed funding led by Findus Venture, with additional participation from Ananda Impact Ventures, Pi Labs, E2MC, Antler, and angel investors.
Memphis.dev looks to simplify event streaming with open source and SaaS products - Co-founded by Sveta Gimpelson (CDO), Memphis.dev raised a $5.5 million seed investment to support its open source project and SaaS offering called Memphis Cloud.
Tom & Josette raises 4.3 million euros to expand its intergenerational crèches - Co-founded by Pauline Faivre and Astrid Parmentier, Tom & Josette aims to open 200 intergenerational micro-crèches in nursing homes, retirement homes, and senior residences. 50 Partners Capital Impact, Agnès Bazin, and Ecofi are among the startup’s investors.
Bee Vaccine Pioneer Dalan Secures $4.5M to Fuel Global Expansion and Product Development - Led by Annette Kleiser, Dalan Animal Health, a US-based honeybee vaccine developer, raised $4.5 million in new seed funding led by Prime Movers Lab.
Alvie Health, an accessible and personalised prehab and rehab company raised a £2.4m seed round led by Ada Ventures - Co-founded by cancer nurse Venetia Wynter Blyth, UK-based Alvie Health improves outcomes for patients going through cancer treatment and other serious health issues.
32Co raises £2.2 million in seed funding to upskill and support the clear aligner industry - The London-based platform, founded and led by Dr Sonia Szamocki, connects general and specialist clinicians. Balderton Capital led the company’s seed funding round.
UK-based Outdid has raised $2.5 million for its secure verification solution using zero-knowledge proofs - Ana-Maria Pricop is a co-founder of the London-based start-up that aims to transform identification methods with its private ID verification solution.
The quest for better AI recommendation engines (TechCrunch+ $) - Alexandra Johnson (CEO) and Georgia Hong (CTO) are the co-founders of Rubber Ducky Labs, a San Francisco–based startup aiming to make it easier for machine learning teams to debug, analyze and improve their recommendation systems. The company raised $1.5M in seed funding, led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Cadenza Ventures and angel investors.
UK solar solutions start-up Glowb gets a glow up with £1.2 million - Co-founded by Sarah Chapman, Glowb offers simple solar energy and battery solutions for homeowners in the UK. Ada Ventures led the company’s oversubscribed, first funding round, which also included Active Partners, Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund, Volta Circle, and angel investors.
Tallinn-based 1MT Nation raises €1 million to restore degraded lands in Africa by planting bamboo - Co-founded by Anete Garoza, Co-Founder and Chief Climate Officer, Estonian startup 1MT Nation, restores degraded lands in Africa and enables companies to invest in high-quality nature-based carbon removals. The company announced its $1.1 million funding round.
ShopZetu raises pre-seed funding to fuel growth of its fashion marketplace beyond Kenya - Co-founded by Wandia Gichuru (also co-founder of the popular Kenyan fashion brand Vivo), the Kenyan fashion e-commerce startup raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. It plans to add beauty and home décor categories to its portfolio, and trial regional delivery services in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Gapianne raises €900k to open a boutique dedicated to female intimacy in Paris (in French) - Co-founded by Jennifer Mouillot, Victoire Bastide, Anne-Cécile Descaillot, Marine Boucherit (CEO), the Paris-based startup offers products and personalised counseling focused on menstruation, maternity, menopause, and pleasure.
El Green Mall, Europe's first digital sustainable retail marketplace shows the way forward for sustainable consumption - Sustainable online marketplace El Green Mall, co-founded by Federica Moreno officially announced its launch. It features products made in Europe for Europe. The Berlin-based company is bootstrapped.
‘Euphoria’ makeup lead Donni Davy’s Half Magic Beauty secures investment round - The vegan beauty brand co-founded by American makeup artist Doni Davey, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Alliance Consumer Growth, A24, Imaginary Ventures, and Access Entertainment.
Tech: Visa acquires Brazilian fintech startup Pismo in $1B blockbuster deal - Juliana Motta (CPO) and Daniela Binatti (CTO) are two of Pismo’s co-founders.
VC: Arboretum Ventures Raises $268 Million, Aiming to Lower Healthcare Costs (WSJ $) - Founded by Managing Partner Jan Garfinkle, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based healthcare-focused VC firm raised a $268 million fund to target startups with the goal of lowering costs for patients.
Hello Alice, Global Entrepreneurship Network unveil $70M Equitable Access Fund - Hello Alice, a female-founded fintech helping small businesses access capital, and entrepreneurship ecosystem Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) launched a $70 million Equitable Access Fund designed to bridge the financing gap experienced by women and BIPOC-owned founders.
“With the economic uncertainty, upheaval in banking and a lot of the fear that things are tightening and interest rates are changing, we’re going to see that it’s even harder for folks to get loans, particularly in the first 24 months of their business.” - Elizabeth Gore, co-founder of Hello Allice (via TechCrunch)
Joyful Ventures debuts with $23M focused on investment in sustainable protein startups - Co-founded by General Partner Jennifer Stojkovic, Joyful Ventures closed $23 million of its $25 million fund, to invest in pre-seed and seed stage startups with strong B2B opportunities and innovative technologies, including plant-based, precision fermentation, mycoproteins, molecular agriculture, and cultivated technologies.
What I’m Reflecting On 💭
Startup boards are still a boys’ club — 45% have no female representation - A new report by ESG_VC, an industry initiative helping startups to measure and improve their ESG performance, and the British Venture Capital Association, shows that 45% of European startups have no female board members.
'She's not ambitious enough': Lessons from fundraising as a female founder - Anh-Tho Chuong Degroote, co-founder at Lago, shares her hard-won insights on how to approach the fundraising process.
Thank you for reading! 🥰 Have a lovely Sunday and an exciting week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth