Female-Led VC Firm Has a Nice Chunk of Change In Its Pocket

$150 million, to be exact. That’s the size of the initial fund raised by Aspect Ventures, Silicon Valley’s first female-led venture capital firm.

Aspect Ventures was founded last year by Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Scott Fonstad—both experienced venture capitalists with track records of success in a heavily male-dominated industry. (Between them, they created $10 billion in public market value at their former firms.)

Though Gouw and Fonstad claim they don’t have a specific focus on female-led companies, their early investments are encouraging in that regard: 40% of their deals so far have been with companies with female founders. (Industry-wide, only 15% of VC-backed companies have a woman on the executive team.) Notable woman-powered companies backed by Aspect Ventures include BirchboxBaubleBar, and Urban Sitter. Just last week, it was announced that Millennial career site The Muse, the rare startup founded by three women, had raised $10 million in Series A funding from a group of investors led by Aspect Ventures.

Ladies, we hope you all make one another filthy rich. After all, the more success women experience by investing in great ideas by other women, the more male VCs will want in on the action. That’s when we’ll see them stepping up to fund female entrepreneurs in greater numbers.


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