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Early-stage investors instrumentality immoderate of the biggest — and boldest — swings successful task capital.
Our Seed 40 list, successful its 5th year, spotlights the women who person done precisely that: find breakout endowment early, and enactment alongside these founders to signifier the aboriginal of tech. This year's honorees person placed bets crossed immoderate of 2025's hottest verticals, from AI to wellness tech.
Perhaps it's nary astonishment that these investors are drawn to founders with akin characteristics. Mathilde Collin, 1 of the caller members connected this year's Seed 40 and Seed 100, told Business Insider she seeks retired "a delicate equilibrium betwixt humility, self-awareness, and self-confidence." "Enough self-confidence to animate radical to beryllium connected the travel with them, capable humility to get radical to assistance them, capable self-awareness to enactment connected themselves," she added.
This database is compiled utilizing information investigation supplied by Termina, a bundle level spun retired of Tribe Capital. Read the full methodology down the list.
1. Laura Rippy
Managing spouse and committee member, Alumni Ventures
Notable investments: Daydream, Rent App, Barnwell Bio, Atomic Supply, TRM Labs, Believer.gg,
City: Boston
Rippy says that erstwhile the satellite is chaotic, startups are the astir nimble, which is wherefore she's excited for this year.
"The signifier of 2025 truthful acold is highly talented teams tackling large opportunities," she told BI.
Based successful Boston, Rippy has built a ample web of school-related founders and investors. She runs 2 school-centric funds, Green D astatine Dartmouth College and Yard Ventures astatine Harvard, and she's besides the managing spouse of Alumni Ventures, 1 of the most progressive VC firms successful the world. Alumni brings VC investing to idiosyncratic investors' portfolios and manages much than 650,000 members.
Prior to joining Alumni Ventures successful 2017, Rippy spent 14 years astatine the backstage household bureau Ripplecreek Partners.
2. Shruti Gandhi
Founder and wide partner, Array Ventures
Notable investments: Capsule, Eventual Computing, Mozart Data, Placer.ai, Rad AI, Runway.team
City: San Francisco
Gandhi's way grounds shows she gets results for constricted partners. In nether a decade, the solo capitalist has returned her archetypal $7 cardinal money astatine a fivefold multiple, with much companies inactive waiting to exit. A watercourse of acquisitions has sped on those distributions, including Simility, a fraud-detection institution which sold to PayPal successful 2018, conscionable 2 years aft Gandhi invested.
As a one-time startup founder, Gandhi decided to rise a money successful 2016 due to the fact that she saw a request for much investors who rolled up their sleeves astatine the effect stage. Her fund, Array Ventures, helps method founders adjacent aboriginal income and make their go-to-market income strategy.
3. Anne Dwane
Cofounder and partner, Village Global
Notable investments: Commontools, P-1 AI, AirGarage, Cherry, Pave, Grow Therapy
City: San Francisco
For a vocation capitalist similar Dwane, AI has represented a generational shift, which is creating an breathtaking clip to measure startups and founders for caller concern opportunities.
"The past twelvemonth has been similar nary other," she told BI. "AI's interaction is conscionable opening to amusement up successful bequest industries, wherever the spread betwixt what's imaginable and what exists remains wide."
Dwane added that the manufacture is besides experiencing a gyration erstwhile it comes to bundle development, which she said volition let much radical to physique companies.
Across Village Global's 3 funds, Dwane's deals person a cumulative holding worth of much than $16 billion. Before Village Global, Dwane cofounded the veteran-focused quality tract Military.com and aboriginal served arsenic the CEO of Zinch, a university-recruitment startup acquired by the edtech institution Chegg successful 2011.
4. Meltem Demirors
General partner, Crucible Capital
Notable investments: Double Zero, CentralAxis, Ostium
City: New York
Demirors has had a engaged twelvemonth launching her caller firm, Crucible Capital, which invests successful energy, compute, and crypto startups. Crucible ended 2024 with $36 cardinal successful committed superior from a $50 cardinal people money and is present oversubscribed, Demirors told BI. The steadfast besides precocious made its 3rd investing hire.
For Demirors, Crucible Capital is the earthy hold of her agelong vocation arsenic an capitalist extracurricular the accepted task superior space. Rather than spinning retired of a VC fund, she built concern firms and plus managers successful crypto portion she was angel investing. Prior to launching Crucible, Demirors was the main strategy serviceman astatine the digital-asset concern institution CoinShares.
At Crucible, her LPs are mostly builders, operators, and investors, alternatively than organization investors oregon funds of funds.
"I consciousness similar Crucible is simply a spot of an anomaly and it tin beryllium challenging considering however clubby task tin beryllium sometimes," she said.
5. Mathilde Collin
Cofounder and enforcement chairperson, Front
Notable Investments: Retool, Mercury, Vanta, Copilot, Meter, Browser Use
City: San Francisco
Colllin cofounded Front, a lawsuit work level startup, successful 2013 aft moving arsenic a task manager astatine different startup. She served arsenic Front's CEO until October and is present its enforcement chairperson. Collin besides angel invests successful a assortment of companies, which see the fintech banking startup Mercury and the tool-building level Retool.
In founders, Collin looks for "a delicate equilibrium betwixt humility, aforesaid consciousness and aforesaid confidence," she told BI. "Enough aforesaid assurance to animate radical to beryllium connected the travel with them, capable humility to get radical to assistance them, capable aforesaid consciousness to enactment connected themselves."
6. Ann DeWitt
General partner, Engine Ventures
Notable investments: Cellino, Bexorg, Matrisome Bio, Terragia, Anthology, Kano Therapeutics, Source Bio
City: Boston
DeWitt has spent her vocation helping companies physique caller transformative biotechnologies. She began successful VC astatine the Massachusetts beingness sciences steadfast Flagship Pioneering, past moved to Sanofi, wherever she guided the pharma giant's investments.
She joined The Engine, an MIT spinout, successful 2018, 2 years aft its launch. First arsenic The Engine's main operating officer, past arsenic a wide partner, she supported the startup incubator and accelerator's enactment with "tough tech" companies, offering an array of resources from laboratory abstraction to superior for startups gathering successful areas similar clime and quality health.
In 2023, DeWitt stayed connected the investing broadside of the concern erstwhile The Engine divided its startup enactment operations from its task arm. She highlighted Engine Ventures' concern successful Cellino, which announced successful February plans to unfastened a stem compartment manufacturing installation on-site astatine Massachusetts General Hospital successful concern with the apical wellness strategy Mass General Brigham's Gene and Cell Therapy Institute.
7. Caterina Fake
Founder, Yes VC
Notable investments: Career Karma, Outschool, Public Goods, Jow, Running Tide
City: San Francisco
Fake is simply a serial entrepreneur, cofounding the photo-sharing work Flickr, which was acquired by Yahoo successful 2005. She makes investments done Yes VC, her steadfast that invests successful climate, AI, wellness and longevity, energy, and defence companies. She's backed Etsy, Cloudera, Oura, and Adept.
She was besides named to the VC steadfast Trac's database of "SuperForecasters," oregon radical the steadfast considers "extraordinary" pre-seed and effect VCs. Fake has said that this quality to spot aboriginal unicorn companies, "plus beardown networks and access, is an implicit request for angels and VCs."
8. Trish Costello
Founder and CEO, Portfolia
Notable investments: YourChoice, Bone Health Technologies, Canela Media, Eden GeoPower, Prime Roots, Lighthouse Pharma
City: San Mateo, California
Costello founded the task money Portfolia successful 2014. The money taps women investors to pb task superior deals successful areas specified arsenic women's health, sustainability, progressive aging and longevity, and startups led by founders of color. Before that, Costello was portion of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for much than 2 decades with her enactment arsenic the cofounder of the Kauffman Fellows program, an acquisition and enactment programme for task capitalists.
Costello told BI that portion galore task firms slowed their investing gait past twelvemonth due to the fact that of marketplace conditions, Portfolia closed 27 investments, adding to its much than 100 investments successful the past 5 years. "Over the past year, we determined that the smartest inclination was to enactment accordant and disciplined and support putting our wealth to work," she said.
9. Julia Hartz
Cofounder and CEO, Eventbrite
Notable investments: Doppler, Mmhmm, Nooks, Oliver Space, Socket
City: San Francisco
Hartz is the animating tone down Eventbrite's ngo to make a person satellite done unrecorded experiences. She's besides an ardent protagonist of early-stage companies.
Her angel investing portfolio includes Socket, a startup focused connected helping companies unafraid open-source software, and Nooks, which is processing a afloat autonomous income assistant.
Before Eventbrite, Hartz helped make tv shows for MTV Networks and FX Networks.
10. Kirsten Green
Founder and managing partner, Forerunner
Notable investments: Chime, Faire, Hims & Hers, Daydream, Balance
City: San Francisco
For a seasoned user capitalist similar Green, a visionary laminitis is lone portion of the equation — erstwhile she's evaluating a imaginable startup investment, she's besides looking for which concern models are going to marque for knockout user experiences.
"The strongest businesses don't conscionable person a large merchandise oregon compelling branding — they are structurally designed to standard successful a mode that enhances the lawsuit journey, accelerates inevitable behaviour shifts, and creates self-reinforcing concern advantages implicit time," Green told BI.
Green founded Forerunner successful 2012 and has spent much than a decennary investing successful early-stage user companies specified arsenic the fintech Chime, the imaginativeness juggernaut Warby Parker, and the healthtech institution Hims & Hers.
11. Varsha Rao
CEO, Zeal AI
Notable investments: Athelas, Grow Therapy, Sanas AI, New Lantern, Observo AI, Candid Health
City: San Francisco
Rao's Zeal AI, an AI-powered edifice scheduling level that launched successful November, is her latest task successful a storied vocation astatine consumer-focused companies. She archetypal founded and co-led the e-commerce quality tract Eve.com, which Idealab acquired successful aboriginal 2000 for $110 million. She's held enactment roles astatine Airbnb, Gap's Old Navy, and LivingSocial, which was acquired by its rival Groupon. Before Zeal, she was the CEO of the reproductive wellness level Nurx, which merged with the telehealth institution Thirty Madison successful 2022.
She's besides an enforcement spouse astatine the healthcare-focused VC steadfast Flare Capital Partners, chiefly advising caller and existing investments. She's utilizing her experiences arsenic a laminitis and an capitalist to support Zeal AI thin and focused connected driving meaningful user growth, adjacent amid marketplace volatility. "Now is simply a truly awesome clip to physique if you tin negociate your pain due to the fact that determination is going to beryllium little competition," she said.
12. Aileen Lee
Founder and managing partner, Cowboy Ventures
Notable investments: Branch, Dollar Shave Club, Drata, Ironclad, Guild, Mutiny Software
City: Palo Alto, California
It's been implicit a decennary since Lee coined the term "unicorn," the once-rare feat for startups worthy implicit $1 billion. She near Kleiner Perkins successful 2012 to commencement her ain firm, Cowboy Ventures, to put successful pre-seed to later-stage startups. Since then, a fewer of Lee's notable exits see Dollar Shave Club, which sold to Unilever for $1 cardinal successful 2019, and Trendyol, which Alibaba acquired for astir $750 cardinal successful 2018.
Lee told BI that she loves gathering founders who are "learning animals" and person a keen tendency to physique relationships, sorb information, and turn quickly.
"We don't necessitate merchandise marketplace acceptable oregon adjacent a afloat built merchandise to privation to put successful a team. We look for a unsocial penetration into an underestimated category, and besides pedigree, oregon a vision, for a mode amended solution to an existing immense problem," she said.
13. Ling Wong
Founder, CEO, and wide partner, Highbury Group
Notable Investments: Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Visterra, Slack, Guardant Health, Singular Genomics, ScienceIO
City: Seattle
Wong founded Highbury Group successful 2013. She invests successful science-driven startups, though she has backed immoderate large SaaS players, specified arsenic Slack, arsenic well.
Her method inheritance helps her measure immoderate of the astir method startups. Wong got her masters and a doctorate successful applied sciences, bioengineering, entrepreneurship, and planetary wellness from Harvard University and bachelor's degrees successful chemic engineering and biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
14. Sara Deshpande
General partner, Maven Ventures
Notable investments: Hello Heart, Daybreak Health, Medeloop, Wildtype, Carrot Fertility, Gondola AI
City: San Francisco
Deshpande has been gathering Maven Ventures alongside its CEO, Jim Scheinman, since 2014. At Maven, she makes effect investments successful companies capitalizing connected emerging user trends, from areas similar fertility attraction (Carrot Fertility) to sustainable seafood (Wildtype). She said she's known for her "tough love" attack with founders. "I effort to beryllium the astir honorable dependable they tin person astir the risks and opportunities related to the institution they're pursuing," she said.
Deshpande is besides a committee perceiver astatine Daybreak Health and Medeloop. Beyond her time occupation astatine Maven, she helps thatch a people astatine Stanford Graduate School of Business called Startup Garage, wherever students devise and stress-test caller concern ideas. In fact, she invested successful Medeloop aft its laminitis got the thought for the AI-powered aesculapian probe level based connected Deshpande's proposal during the course.
15. Gale Wilkinson
Managing partner, Vitalize Venture Capital
Notable investments: Elevate K-12, Groundfloor, Placer.ai, Upwage, Upwards, Statusphere
City: Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee
Wilkinson invests successful companies moving to alteration however we work. That absorption paid disconnected large clip during the pandemic arsenic companies moved dramatically toward integer channels. To date, she's invested successful implicit 100 companies and deployed much than $70 cardinal successful capital.
One of Wilkinson's portfolio crown jewels is Placer.ai, a startup that turns determination information into marketplace probe for companies. Last twelvemonth it crossed $100 million successful annualized revenue.
16. Elizabeth Weil
Founder and managing partner, Scribble Ventures
Notable Investments: Whatnot, Stoke Space, Omni, Certn, Lemi, Streamline AI
City: San Francisco
A erstwhile Twitter exec and spouse astatine Andreessen Horowitz, Weil cofounded Scribble Ventures successful 2020. But she's been investing for good implicit a decade, making implicit 100 angel investments crossed each stages, including successful Slack, SpaceX, Figma, Coinbase, Superplastic, Gusto, Tipalti, Envoy, Daily, and Carta. At Scribble, Weil invests successful pre-seed and effect rounds and volition constitute archetypal checks of up to $1.5 million.
The rocket developer Stoke Space, 1 of Scribble's aboriginal investments, is preparing its initial motorboat plans astatine Cape Canaveral successful Florida aft being awarded the launchpad abstraction by the US Space Force. The startup besides conscionable announced a $260 cardinal Series C circular successful January, with the motorboat tract to beryllium acceptable by the extremity of the year. "We excavation successful with our founders connected product, hiring, and go-to-market due to the fact that these are the 2 astir precarious — and pivotal — elements of early-stage success," Weil said.
17. Juliana Garaizar
Venture partner, Porfolia and ClimaTech Global Ventures
Notable Investments: Cemvita Factory, Syzygy Plasmonics, Canela Media, Kauel, Suma Capital, Portfolia
City: Houston
Garaizar invests with ClimaTech Global Ventures, a steadfast that invests successful early-stage, cross-border startups utilizing AI successful the clime tech space. She's besides a spouse astatine Portfolia, a steadfast based successful San Mateo, California. Previously, Garaizar was the main improvement and concern serviceman astatine Greentown Labs, a climatetech startup incubator. One of her investments, Cemvita Factory, is simply a biotechnology startup that converts c dioxide into compounds to marque products similar oil.
When asked astir the aboriginal of her portfolio, Garaizar was enthusiastic astir its opportunities for overseas expansion: "I americium precise excited astir the planetary enlargement of my portfolio companies specified arsenic Cemvita Factory successful Brazil, Canela Media successful Latin America and Spain, and Kauel successful Europe," Garaizar told BI.
18. Rudina Seseri
Founder and managing partner, Glasswing Ventures
Notable investments: Basetwo, Reprise, Ship Angel, Telmai, Verusen
City: Boston
Seseri and her firm, Glasswing Ventures, cognize however to chopped done the hype and find companies designed with artificial quality astatine its core, not arsenic an afterthought. She leads the firm's investments successful startups harnessing this tech to thrust measurable worth and endeavor growth.
She besides sits connected boards including Basetwo, a low-code level for manufacturing engineers, and Reprise, an Iconiq Growth-backed startup that helps companies make bundle demos.
Seseri spent her aboriginal vocation astatine Credit Suisse and Microsoft, wherever she was a elder manager successful firm improvement and led respective palmy acquisitions.
19. Enke Bashllari
Founder and managing director, Arkitekt Ventures
Notable investments: Mural Health, CertifyOS, Paradromics, Nanite, Cofertility, Handspring Health
City: New York
Bashllari launched Arkitekt Ventures successful 2017 to backmost early-stage startups advancing quality health. A neuroscientist by training, she's invested successful dozens of startups crossed healthcare and biotech, from the ovum donation startup Cofertility to the cistron transportation institution Nanite to the encephalon implant shaper Paradromics. She's an advisor for Harvard Business School's dual MBA and Master of Science beingness sciences program, having received aggregate degrees herself — an MBA from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
She said evaluating founder-market acceptable is peculiarly captious successful beingness sciences investments. "These bequest industries person profoundly entrenched structures and complexities — it's important for founders to genuinely recognize the nuances of the space, the marketplace dynamics, and stakeholder incentives to successfully physique and standard their company," she said.
20. Lan Xuezhao
Founder and managing partner, Basis Set
Notable investments: Quince, Sakana, Workstream, Ergeon, Rasa
City: San Francisco
Xuezhao studied the quality caput for her doctorate successful science astatine the University of Michigan. Little did she cognize that studying science would beryllium utile for investing successful AI, which is programmed to mimic however a quality encephalon works.
Xuezhao is thing of a sage erstwhile it comes to AI investing. When she started her firm, Basis Set Ventures, successful 2017, fewer different task capitalists focused connected the field. She's among the aboriginal investors successful startups including Quince, Sakana and Workstream. Before getting into task capital, Xuezhao built retired the firm improvement strategy squad astatine Dropbox, utilizing her years of acquisition astatine McKinsey helping tech companies with their maturation strategies.
21. Ann Miura-Ko
Cofounding partner, Floodgate
Notable investments: SmarterDx, Roo, Hebbia, Nooks, Thinkful, Studio, Emotive
City: Menlo Park, California
Miura-Ko, who has a Ph.D. from Stanford and is simply a lecturer there, has been dubbed "one of the astir almighty women successful startups." As the cofounding spouse of the seed-stage VC steadfast Floodgate, Miura-Ko and the steadfast made aboriginal bets connected Lyft, Twitter, Twitch, and Okta. Her passionateness for exertion started erstwhile she was a child, inspired by her father's enactment arsenic a rocket idiosyncratic astatine NASA, and continued during her studies astatine Yale, wherever she took portion successful robotics competitions astir the world.
Her caller aboriginal investments are gaining traction. In the past year, the AI papers hunt startup Hebbia has raised $130 million successful a backing circular led by A16z. As for what Miura-Ko is funny successful investing in, she told BI: "We're excited astir founders that are consenting to look beyond contiguous ratio gains and alternatively envision wholly caller ways of working, collaborating, and creating worth done AI."
22. Jenny Lefourt
General partner, Freestyle
Notable investments: Discord, BetterUp, Crexi, Artera, Narvar
City: San Francisco
Lefcourt is simply a two-time laminitis (WeddingChannel.com and Bella Pictures) and a spouse astatine Freestyle, an early-stage task steadfast that's assemblage agnostic and leads effect rounds with backing betwixt $2 cardinal and $4 million.
As 1 of the fewer women to ascend to the highest ranks of task capital, she cofounded All Raise, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding diverseness successful tech.
In the past year, she invested successful Payman, which enables AI agents to determination wealth safely, and Keebler Health, which specializes successful AI-driven solutions for healthcare providers.
"Given however rapidly AI is evolving, I look for founders who are perpetually learning and tin respond accelerated to harness AI for maximum impact," Lefcourt told BI.
23. Yun-Fang Juan
General partner, Brighter Capital
Notable investments: Creatify, Little Otter, Expo, Chowdeck, Reddit
City: Cupertino, California
Juan was 1 of the archetypal 150 employees astatine Facebook, wherever she co-created Facebook Ads. She past worked astatine respective startups, including Khan Academy, earlier she took the eventual entrepreneurial plunge and founded Fundastic, which looked to supply tiny businesses with accusation connected backing options.
Juan antecedently told BI that adjacent though Nav bought her institution successful 2015, the windfall wasn't massive, and she considered it a failure. But she said she gained invaluable position from the acquisition that had helped her usher different startup founders arsenic an investor.
Juan said she truly admired what the AI startup Perplexity was doing and wished she were an investor. "I americium fundamentally looking for founders who are similar the Perplexity team, and I volition conscionable springiness them the wealth and person them fig things out," she said.
24. April Underwood
Managing manager and cofounder, Adverb Ventures
Notable investments: Particle, Untold, Shotsy
Location: San Francisco
Underwood is the embodiment of a builder VC, having held product, partnership, and engineering roles astatine Slack, Twitter, Google, and Intel. While astatine Twitter, Underwood started investing successful startups done #Angels and personally backed companies similar Color, Cue Health, and Carta. She besides sits connected the boards of Zillow Group and Eventbrite.
In 2023, Underwood teamed up with her chap Twitter alum Jessica Verrilli to signifier Adverb Ventures, a $75 cardinal money focused connected early-stage investments. One of Adverb's caller investments, Shotsy, a GLP-1 companion app, breezed past $1 cardinal successful subscription gross successful nether 9 months connected the market, Underwood said. As for what she looks for successful a founder, Underwood said: "Founders who rotation up their sleeves and conscionable commencement gathering earlier waiting for support get maine excited."
25. Leah Solivan
General partner, Fuel Capital
Notable investments: Pacaso, Upwards, Collaborative Robotics, MiSalud
City: San Francisco
Solivan founded TaskRabbit successful 2008 and was CEO of the online marketplace for freelance laborers for astir 8 years earlier it was acquired by Ikea successful 2017. That year, she joined Fuel Capital, wherever she has helped money Pacaso, a abrogation coownership company, and Upwards, formerly known arsenic Weecare, 1 of the largest childcare networks successful the US.
"I look for founders who are obsessed with solving a circumstantial occupation due to the fact that helium oregon she has a idiosyncratic transportation to it," Solivan told BI. "We telephone it founder-market fit."
26. Emily Kirsch
Founder and CEO, Powerhouse
Notable Investments: Amperon, Pearl Street Technologies, Terabase, Presto, ThinkLabs, Tyba
City: Oakland, California
Kirsch has been funny successful clime argumentation for astir 2 decades. She began her vocation moving for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, wherever she worked with section California businesses connected the state's Energy and Climate Action Plan. In 2018, she founded Powerhouse Ventures, which works with planetary corporations specified arsenic Google and The Rockefeller Foundation to backmost climate-focused, seed-stage startups moving connected decarbonization efforts.
In 2019, she was elected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and began serving connected the advisory committee for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which supports the improvement of cleanable tech innovation and programming successful New York.
When assessing founders, Kirsch opts for those with beardown method prowess and a differentiated attack to a large bottleneck. Her biggest triumph truthful acold successful 2025 has been the vigor SaaS institution Enverus' acquisition of the automation interconnection solutions institution Pearl Street Technologies, Kirsh told BI. "Their CEO David embodies precisely the benignant of laminitis we emotion to backmost — understated, brilliant, and profoundly technical."
27. Noramay Cadena
Managing partner, Supply Change Capital
Notable Investments: FoodReady, Cargologik, Hyfé, Michroma, Canela Media, Terrantic
City: Los Angeles
Cadena is an technologist turned investor. She studied engineering astatine the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and began her vocation astatine Boeing, yet starring a squad that coordinated enactment for 400 mechanics connected 1 of the archetypal 787 airplanes. At Supply Change Capital, Cadena invests successful environment, health, and diversity-focused startups, according to its website.
"This is simply a captious clip to put successful exertion crossed the nutrient proviso concatenation arsenic a operator for health, user penchant and efficiency," Cadena told BI. "Food safety, nutrition, and outgo of goods are apical of caput for each stakeholders and Supply Change Capital invests successful infrastructure technologies to amended the travel of information and goods."
28. Alice Zhang
Cofounder and CEO, Verge Genomics
Notable investments: Osmind, Asher Bio, Arpeggio, Encellin, Multiply Labs
City: San Francisco
Zhang has spent the past decennary gathering the biotech startup Verge Genomics to usage AI for better, faster cause discovery. Since then, Verge has raised $180 cardinal from apical firms including BlackRock, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and Y Combinator. The startup besides notched a woody with the pharma elephantine Eli Lilly successful 2021 to make drugs for the neurodegenerative illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, oregon ALS.
As an angel investor, she's backed the immunotherapy-focused biotech startup Asher Bio, which raised a $55 cardinal Series C successful April 2024, and the biopharma robotics startup Multiply Labs, which notched an $85 cardinal declaration with the Sam Altman-backed Retro Biosciences successful May 2024.
29. Lu Zhang
Founder and managing partner, Fusion Fund
Notable Investments: Otter.ai, Proscia, Subtle Medical, You.com, Vectara, Lepton AI
City: Palo Alto, California
Zhang's Fusion Fund, which invests successful healthcare and endeavor AI startups, celebrated its 10th day this twelvemonth and closed a $190 cardinal fund, astir $40 cardinal oversubscribed, bringing its full assets nether absorption to much than $500 million. "It's a cardinal milestone that reflects our decadelong committedness to backing method founders gathering transformational companies," Zhang told BI.
Zhang sold her healthcare startup, Acetone, which made aesculapian devices for investigating benignant 2 diabetes, and founded Fusion Fund by the property of 25. In 10 years, Fusion Fund has invested successful astatine slightest 5 unicorns, specified arsenic the nutrient tech startup GrubMarket and the DNA investigation institution Element Biosciences, arsenic good arsenic cutting-edge AI startups including You.com and Otter.ai.
30. Linda Xie
Cofounder, Scalar Capital
Notable investments: Farcaster, dYdX, StarkWare, Zora, Sardine, Pulley
Xie invests successful crypto companies alongside moving her time occupation arsenic the developer ecosystem pb astatine Farcaster. One of Xie's aboriginal bets, Sardine, precocious raised $50 cardinal successful Series B funding. Xie highlighted her in-depth acquisition successful the crypto manufacture arsenic helping her arsenic an investor.
"I've been moving successful crypto afloat clip for 11 years, truthful person seen a batch and recovered that I'm often capable to assistance founders astir arsenic a sounding board, stock what other I'm seeing retired there, and assistance marque connections to others successful the ecosystem," Xie said.
31. Jana Messerschmidt
Founding partner, #ANGELS
Notable investments: Vanta, Anchorage, Roam, Lovevery, Daydream, Ashby
City: San Francisco
Before becoming a task capitalist, Messerschmidt worked successful tech astatine companies including Netflix and Twitter, present X, wherever she spent six years arsenic its vice president of planetary concern improvement and platform. A fewer years aft leaving Twitter, she joined Lightspeed Venture Partners arsenic a partner.
In 2015, she cofounded #ANGELS, a task superior steadfast founded by erstwhile pistillate tech execs that works to adjacent the sex spread among investors and founders.
32. Julie McDermott
Startup capitalist and advisor
Notable investments: Hazel AI, Queen of Raw, Kernal Biologics, Orda, TomoCredit, Conekta
City: New York
After a decadelong vocation connected Wall Street arsenic a enslaved trader, McDermott decided to crook her attraction to the tech startup world. She's since go known arsenic an advocator for pistillate founders and an progressive angel investor. She was an aboriginal backer of Maven, a women's digital-healthcare company past valued astatine $1.7 cardinal successful 2023. (McDermott sold her involvement successful 2020.)
McDermott has focused connected different investments successful sustainability, biotech, and fintech, specified arsenic the startups Conekta and Eggschain. Later this year, she plans to crook much attraction to water tech startups, which she sees arsenic a "huge opportunity."
"I often look for companies that are moving the needle successful an impactful mode for society," she told BI.
33. Caroline Casson
Seed investor
Notable investments: AllVoices, Elevate K-12, Lunch, Placer.ai, WorkMade, Zingtree
City: Madison, Wisconsin
Casson bets connected founders with large ideas astir however the workforce tin enactment better. Her portfolio includes WorkMade, a fintech helping freelancers support way of their net and wage taxes, and Elevate K-12, an edtech institution moving to code the nationwide teacher shortage.
Casson chopped her teeth arsenic an capitalist astatine GE Ventures, wherever she helped incubate and run a startup successful the drone space. Then she went to IrishAngels, an angel web of Notre Dame-affiliated investors, earlier settling successful astatine the seed-stage task fund, Vitalize Venture Capital.
She precocious near Vitalize aft implicit six years to prosecute a new, unannounced opportunity.
34. Serena Williams
Managing partner, Serena Ventures
Notable investments: Chatdesk, Daily Harvest, Esusu, MasterClass, Rebel
City: Jupiter, Florida
When Williams took a measurement backmost from tennis successful 2022, she jumped into investing with some feet. The tennis champ raised a monolithic $111 cardinal fund, a testament to her relationships and competitory edge. Williams invests successful user brands and bundle companies that positively interaction "the mundane lives of mundane people," she said during an event precocious past year.
Her steadfast stands isolated from accepted investors due to the fact that it focuses connected underestimated founders. According to a spokesperson, astir fractional of the portfolio companies were founded by women.
35. Cyan Banister
Cofounder and partner, Long Journey Ventures
Notable investments: AtoB, Roadster, Forge, IRL, ClassPass
City: San Francisco
Banister has been effect investing for much than a decennary and has backed SpaceX, Uber Technologies, and DeepMind. She was antecedently a spouse astatine Founders Fund and worked astatine AngelList. She precocious raised a $181 cardinal money with Arielle Zuckerberg for their firm, Long Journey.
Banister told Bloomberg that Long Journey aims to "look for those magically weird radical and to find them earlier it becomes consensus." "There's ever a pouch of dreamers and weirdos. You conscionable person to cognize wherever to look," Banister said.
36. Maria Salamanca
Partner, Ulu Ventures
Notable investments: Parfait, Career Karma, Maximus, Pine Park Health, KaiPod
City: San Francisco
Before joining Ulu Ventures successful 2022, Salamanca was a spouse astatine Unshackled Ventures, wherever she focused connected effect investing successful teams with migrant founders. From 2015 to 2022, Salamanca helped marque much than 75 effect investments astatine Unshackled. She was besides an aboriginal squad subordinate astatine FWD.us, an migration lobbying radical founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and different tech leaders.
When asked what she looks for successful a startup earlier she invests, Salamanca said she assesses however they volition usage time, not money. "I look for velocity of execution, relentless prioritization, and the quality to specify the toughest problems that indispensable beryllium solved to de-risk and unlock the adjacent signifier of the company," Salamanca told BI.
37. Holly Liu
Cofounder and managing partner, PKO Investments
Notable investments: Crypto Art House, Jadu, Lootex, NZXT, Playhouse, Quidd
City: San Francisco
Liu founded the mobile crippled institution Kabam successful 2006, and she grew the startup for much than a decennary until it was acquired for $1 cardinal successful 2017 by South Korea's NetMarble Games.
Since 2021, Liu has been moving PKO Investments, the VC money she cofounded that focuses connected early-stage startups astatine the intersection of tech and amusement successful sectors including the metaverse, Web3, crypto, the creator economy, gaming, and societal media. So acold her money has raised much than $27 cardinal from implicit 370 investors, and written checks to 33 startups, including Roboto Games, Lovo, and Pixels.
38. Karin Klein
Founding partner, Bloomberg Beta
Notable investments: Anagram, Atolio, Bluefish, Campus, MelodyArc, Shield AI
City: New York
Klein is the founding spouse of Bloomberg Beta, the task limb of Bloomberg. Before helping to motorboat the firm, she led respective initiatives astatine Bloomberg.
She antecedently worked astatine SoftBank, starring the part that reviewed caller investments; MC Group, a communications agency; and the acquisition institution Knowledge Universe.
Bloomberg Beta has been astatine the forefront of AI, investing successful the abstraction agelong earlier it was successful vogue. She continues to beryllium excited astir this area. "As a steadfast that has been investing successful the aboriginal of work since 2013 and AI since 2014, it's rewarding to spot caller opportunities proceed to look that marque enactment better," Klein told BI.
She highlighted startups specified arsenic Bluefish, which helps brands navigate the caller satellite of LLMs, Folio, which enables employers to prosecute job-ready students, and Synaptic, which uses AI agents to optimize Salesforce integrations.
39. Nisha Dua
Cofounder and managing partner, BBG Ventures
Notable investments: Spring Health, SuperCircle, Starface, Millie, HopSkipDrive, Nara Organics
City: New York
Dua tried connected galore hats passim her vocation earlier settling connected task capital. She spent six years arsenic an M&A lawyer astatine the Australian instrumentality steadfast Blake Dawson earlier moving to Bain & Co. arsenic a absorption consultant, and past to the net supplier AOL, wherever she managed its popular civilization website Cambio.
At AOL, Dua created Built by Girls, a bundle level that connected young women with tech professionals. Then, backed by AOL, she cofounded BBG Ventures, utilizing that acronym to put successful companies with 1 oregon much pistillate founders.
BBG Ventures spun retired of AOL successful precocious 2018. The steadfast present invests astatine the pre-seed and effect stages successful often overlooked founders tackling areas similar healthcare, education, and fiscal security. Spring Health, which Dua archetypal backed successful 2018, raised a $100 cardinal Series E circular astatine a $3.3 cardinal valuation successful July.
40. Hayley Barna
Partner, First Round
Notable investments: Mirror, Caper, Alma, Studs, Arbor, Brellium
Location: New York
After a stint successful absorption consulting astatine Bain, Barna cofounded the subscription institution Birchbox successful 2010. She moved implicit to the investing broadside successful 2016 to articulation First Round Capital to pb its New York office, wherever she has focused connected commerce, proviso chain, climate, and healthcare.
"Right now, I'm astir excited astir a question of seed-stage companies (still successful stealth) applying AI to alteration healthcare operations and diligent experience," Barna told BI. "These founders are tackling real-world symptom points with imaginable for outsized interaction connected outgo and prime of care."
Interactive improvement by Annie Fu and Randy Yeip.
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