Minority-led Emmeline Ventures Launches to Give Women the Opportunity to Invest in Seed Stage, Female-Founded Companies
Today, Emmeline Ventures, a multi-cultural, multi-generational, all-female, early stage investment fund, came out of stealth with the announcement of their first investment in Clutch Wallet. Clutch Wallet is a web and mobile-based digital wallet that unlocks the opportunity for women to actively participate in the rapidly growing asset class of crypto and web3.
“Emmeline is run by three powerful, savvy, and helpful businesswomen. The networks they’ve provided have been so helpful for our business and it’s only our second month working together. Also having female investors fund our product that will generate more wealth for women is a strategic full circle of women helping women,” said Bec Jones, Founder & CEO of Clutch Wallet.
Prior to founding Emmeline, General Partners La Keisha Landrum Pierre, Naseem Sayani, and Azin Radsan van Alebeek, had collectively made 13 pre-seed and seed investments across the healthcare/femtech, financial services, sustainability, content, and cyber-security segments. These companies include Ruth Health, Mirza, Rebel Girls, and Another Tomorrow, among others. The success of this pilot fund is what led them to solidify their mission and value proposition and create Emmeline Ventures.
Landrum Pierre, Sayani, and van Alebeek have spent their careers redefining norms and forging new paths to success and now they are using their collective experience and passion paired with venture capital to empower and elevate today’s most ambitious female founders.
Emmeline’s target is to raise $5-8M for this initial fund to invest in up to 20 businesses, anywhere in the world, led by female and female-identifying founders who are building businesses which help women, in particular, manage their health, build their wealth, and live in a safer, cleaner world. The founding team is dedicated to helping female founders raise early capital and secure access and expertise needed to reach their next milestone – whether that be growth or a next capital raise.
With only 2% of VC funding in 2021 going to female founders despite the fact that these same teams continue to outperform the market by +15%, Emmeline Ventures is intent on unlocking new capital. “Our goal is to have an active role in changing the venture investing landscape. How? By funding companies that have a meaningful, positive impact on how women lead their lives in the future. We’re aiming to not only change the landscape of venture capital but also to change the type of companies that get funded,” added Landrum Pierre.
In addition, the Emmeline team is expanding access for first time investors by allowing smaller check sizes, and inviting active engagement from these investors by way of education, participation in deal flow activities, and engagement with other LPs. “We’ve sought out founders others may not have sought out, and we’ve built connections within and across them to elevate and cultivate the type of community building that organically happens across their male counterparts,” said Sayani. “We’re part of building a new ecosystem for women – one that already exists for their male counterparts, and one that is mutually beneficial for both the LPs and the founders within the portfolio.”
The general partners bring over 60 years of collective experience across various industries. Sayani is known for her storied career spanning market development, operations, and business building; while Landrum Pierre recently stepped into the seat of Chairwoman of an international media company, after being the same company’s CEO for many years and before that its COO; and van Alebeek draws on her experience as an executive and board-level advisor in the US and Europe.
“We see a bit of ourselves in each other, paired with a great deal of difference, and it has led to an unmatched harmony of purpose, of ethos, of conviction, and of focus,” said van Alebeek. “We are a fund attracting founders who align with and are passionate about rewriting the code that drives our societal and business norms. We invest in businesses that are changing the baseline for how we all live. This starts with how we empower tomorrow’s women and when we rewrite that code, everyone does better.”
For more information visit www.emmelineventures.vc.
About Emmeline Ventures
Founded in 2022 with offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix, Emmeline Ventures is a female-founded early stage fund with a team of investors steadfastly committed to investing in and serving as catalysts for new, emerging founders & businesses. With a focus on tech-enabled, female-founded start-ups, Emmeline is expanding what’s possible by empowering founders to make the most of their passion and hustle while delivering necessary progress and innovation for tomorrow.
Media Contact:
Lindsay Stevens
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213-200-9638
