True Wealth Ventures launched in Austin with what shouldn’t be an out-of-the-ordinary mission: to invest in promising women-led startups.
But, in fact, it’s pretty rare in the venture capital world to focus on female founders. Only 2.3% of all the VC dollars flowing to startups in 2021 were to companies founded solely by women. And data released by PitchBook this spring showed less than 15% went to companies with at least one woman co-founder.
True Wealth, founded in 2015 by Sara Brand and Kerry Rupp, has made backing women-led startups its sole focus, especially those addressing health issues, and it now has about $60 million in assets under management with big plans ahead. The firm just announced it has raised a $35 million second fund, which follows up on its $19 million first fund that closed in 2018.
With the new fund, the firm plans to focus on software, hardware and consumer packaged goods startups with initial checks from $500,000 to $1 million.And, as focused as it is on women-led businesses, True Wealth’s funds also have been fueled by mostly women-limited partners. The firm has 80% women LPs across its funds and the actual dollars that come from women were about 75%. The firm noted that a majority of the women LPs investing in its first fund had previously never been invited to invest in a venture fund.
“While our primary mission continues to be getting early-stage capital to female founders whose core value proposition is improving environmental or human health, our secondary mission has been to facilitate more women investing into this asset class as LPs,” Brand stated. “We not only believe this is the fastest way to change the gender inequality in the VC ecosystem, we also believe it is critical for our country’s innovation economy with the wealth shifting to women.”
True Wealth plans to make 15 investments with its new fund, and it has already made three investments from its new fund, including one in an Austin company: Flourish, which is focused on helping women build sustainable and healthy life habits. It also backed San Diego-based trucking safety tech startup Aeromutable and California-based De Oro Devices, which helps people with mobility disorders.
“Investing in women-led companies personally resonates with women who know their peers have potential and should be backed much more than a mere 2.3%,” Rupp stated. “There’s a feeling of, ‘If not us, then who?’ Women are twice as likely to invest in companies that will have a positive social impact, and 10 times as likely to invest in companies with diverse teams.”
