Celebrating My Female Founders

Today, on International Women’s Day, I am celebrating the female founders I’ve invested in over the years. Less than 2% of venture capital dollars go to women, and an even more dismal metric for women of color.

To change that, we have to change who allocates capital to women starting businesses. Today, only 8% of decision-makers at venture funds are women. Through my angel investments, and now with?Trust Fund’s?$10 million fundraise, I am proud to be changing that metric.?

These talented, visionary entrepreneurs inspire me, educate me, and are leading the way for female entrepreneurs around the globe. So let’s meet them:

Megan Duong?of?Plot, Trust Fund’s?first investment, left Apple to start her own agency. After realizing that most of her time was spent in Google Docs and searching for things in her inbox, she decided to fix it. Last week, we announced Trust Fund’s investment into her $3M seed round (our first check!)?

Babba Rivera?of?Ceremonia?is on a mission to bring clean formulas, sustainability, and inclusivity to the hair care aisle. Ceremonia is the first Latinx hair brand to be carried at Sephora in 83 locations and has raised a total of $3M dollars to date.

Gina Bartasi?of?Kindbody, a tech-driven fertility clinic startup, raised $100M in capital at a $1.8B valuation on Friday. Kindbody owns and operates 31 clinics nationwide and recently launched at-home fertility testing.

Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton?of?Chillhouse, a gorgeous NYC space providing nail care, infrared sauna, and a full-on matcha and coffee bar, made it through COVID and has since launched a successful line of press-on nails that are now in over 200+?Target stores.?

Lola Priego?founded?Base, which is a data-science app paired with at-home lab testing to help you improve your health based on gathering data on a regular basis. Base has gone on to raise a total of $3.6M dollars in funding.

Trinity Mouzon Wofford, founder and CEO of?Golde, has reclaimed the wellness/beauty industry for Black women while managing to earn 5x the revenue she had the year before. Golde is widely recognized for its face masks and superfood lattes, which have been supported by Kourtney Kardashian and Beyoncé, and was made available in 460?Target stores?in 2020.

DanDan Li founded?Popshop Live?in 2018. Popshop Live is an e-commerce platform that uses streaming video to let sellers both connect with their shoppers and sell their wares in a new way, and has gone on to raise $23M dollars.

Sarah Paiji Yoo?founded?Blueland?in 2019 to offer sustainable and eco-friendly cleaning goods, and eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging while prioritizing the planet and people.

I’m excited to be among these women changing the metrics for both existing and aspiring female business owners. Regardless of if you identify as a woman, I ask one thing of you today: think of one way you can materially support a woman-owned business, whether it’s the incredible women above, someone you know, or a business you love and follow.

Here’s to changing the metrics,

Sophia