“I realized that I was the only female Vice President with any technology or operating background in a very technical organization with 15,000 employees and only 12 other women VPs”.
Meet Sara Brand, Ph.D., Founding General Partner of True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses in consumer, health & sustainability
▶️ In this interview episode of ‘Wiping Out the Norm’, Sara shares her inspiring journey from mechanical engineering to venture capital and co-founding (512) Brewing, the largest self-distributing microbrewery in the US. She said,
“I have worked in a career dominated by men, from studying mechanical engineering to working in management consulting and later in a venture capital fund.”
She revealed that women make 85% of all consumer purchase decisions and 80% of all healthcare decisions but only 2-3% of investment decision-making VCs are women, and a mere 1.9% of VC funding goes to women-led startups
“When I was working in Venture Capital fund, I couldn’t find any other female VC“, with this statement, Sara highlights the scarcity of women in VC and the gender funding gap.
Despite being one of about a dozen female VPs in a 15,000-employee organization, Sara took on the role of Executive Sponsor for the Global Women’s Forum, determined to influence change. Adding further she said, “It was disturbing to me at a personal level to see so few women at leadership level to see so few women at leadership level”.
▶️ This stark reality prompted her to start her own fund to achieve greater gender balance and that’s how True Wealth Ventures came into existence
Sara’s groundbreaking VC fund for women secured more than $19 million in two years, and is now at $60M under management and reshaping the landscape for women entrepreneurs.
In our conversation, Sara highlights an incident where a female startup founder pitched a tampon that could help detect ovarian cancer. And a male investor asked, “Can we use this for men too?”
▶️ Sara also served on the advisory board of mechanical engineering at UC Berkley and UT Austin’s College of Engineering, and emphasized on how to attract and retain more women in the department.
Inspired by Sara’s work, the tide is turning in the VC world, with investors increasingly recognizing the incredible potential of women-led businesses.
️Watch our full conversation with Sara as she shared with us many more incidents from her journey of overcoming challenges and turning rejections into a record-breaking achievement.
▶️ Link to the interview: https://lnkd.in/dJ26As5P
