Marcos Fernandez’s Post

I saw this post just now, after seeing Hélène Guillaume Pabis's post earlier today about ending up in the ER after a minor car crash. (Mom & baby are OK!) https://lnkd.in/gawNr8Nf The juxtaposition of these two posts reinforced something profound: - Investors increasingly have no problem backing pregnant founders (something that old-school investors (ahem) simply couldn't wrap their heads around) - And founders who are pregnant increasingly feel comfortable sharing that part of themselves publicly. This is amazing forward progress. Startup investing used to rest in the hands of people whose mindsets remained rooted in old ideas about what women (and women carrying children) were--& were not--able to do. As a result, founders who were raising money tried to keep pregnancies under wraps as long as possible. They knew it would immediately torpedo their fundraising plans. (As I wrote about a few years ago in The Guardian: https://lnkd.in/evCfBcr ) But here's what that old mindset never understood: - Betting on a founder is a long game. Success stems from a founder's grit, vision, and ability to execute -- qualities independent of anything going on in their lives. - So many of our ideas about what women are (& aren't) capable of date back to earlier eras--eras which were actively invested perpetuating certain narratives. Those ideas weren't rooted in fact, but rather in cultural imperatives. In other words, they were never true. I could cite statistics and research that disprove those ideas (like the fact that parents are actually more productive and effective in the workplace than non-parents). But that's a side show. Our beliefs about pregnant founders will only change when more investors slough off antiquated ideas (or never believe them in the first place) and place their bets accordingly. And as more and more childbearing founders knock it out of the park, re-engineering our collective ideas about what pregnant people and parents of small children are capable of. As Buckminster Fuller said: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Or, in this case: You never change people's minds by arguing against their (entrenched) beliefs. You change their minds by simply doing the thing they think can't be done. (And, better, by showing them how much money they lost because they couldn't get beyond those beliefs.) So kudos to Hélène and others who are forging ahead. And kudos to Kara (Brown) Mosteller & Play Money & others who are betting on these founders. This is how we change the game. It's how we create the paths & possibilities we want to see in the world.

🧡 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 🧡 🌟Clara Gillet co-founder Figo Social Clara is passionate about product management, feminism, and connecting people. Figo Social is a startup that aims at tackling the problem of social isolation and loneliness of older adults. Up to 50% of those aged over 60 are at risk of social isolation, and approximately one-third of older people will experience some degree of loneliness later in life. Figo Social is building the solution for older adults to meet, be active together, and keep on learning and making new experiences in their later years. 👉 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲? Clara joined Grace to get the chance to work with a group of impressive founders who are building interesting and important solutions. She’s getting a lot of value from the personal coaching and the sessions provided by the program, and is learning from the ever-growing network of previous founders and mentors. 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀: 🐕Her brother's dog 🎨Painting   🔨DIY & experimentation Do you have a question for Clara? leave it in the comments. — The project is funded by the European Social Fund Plus with funds from the European Union and the State of Berlin. #femalefounders #startupsofberlin #womeninbusiness #gracefounder #graceaccelerator

🎄 It's official, there's no denying it, Christmas is officially on it's way. However, female founders aren't slowing down! This weeks Unstoppable Founders Newsletter is packed full of inspiring updates! 👇 💛 My #Unstoppable Female Founder of the week is a woman who launched her startup after a 3 month long quest to find the perfect yellow chair. Please meet Sandrine Zhang Ferron, Founder & CEO of Vinterior. 🤑 #FemaleFounders who are raising capital this week are on a mission to give every baby equal access to a healthier, happier life. Please meet the incredible all-female founding team of #BioTech BoobyBiome - Dr. Sioned Fôn Jones, Tara O'Driscoll, PhD & Lydia Mapstone, PhD. 📣 My #Rant this week is about running fast, making a splash and going really big post fundraise. 🙌 The #HypeCorner is packed with more inspiring female founders who have raised capital with their teams: 🇩🇪 Carmen Jenny & Eva Johanna Egg Co-founders of Scripe 🇳🇱 Sankari Nair Co-founder of Recall.ai 🇬🇧 Mariana Barona Co-founder of Synthera AI 🇬🇧 Lizhen Cai Co-founder of Jove Insurance 🇫🇷 Diane-Laure Pagès Co-founder & COO of Orakl Oncology 🇬🇧 Mollie Claypool Co-founder & CEO of Automated Architecture (AUAR) 🇩🇰 Mette M Rosenkilde Co-founder of Antag Therapeutics 🇧🇪 Katleen Verleysen CEO of miDiagnostics 🇩🇪 Gyorgyi Osztrovszky Co-founder & CSO of CarboCode 🇬🇧 Umaima Malik Ahmad Co-founder & CEO of 52North - creators of Neutrocheck® The link to my full newsletter down below 👇 ☀️ Have a wonderful weekend everyone! ☀️ ___________________________________________________________________ 👋 Hi, I'm Jen, Fractional CMO and fundraising advisor 🙌 Hype-woman for female founders through Unstoppable 📩 Building something EPIC? Get in touch, I'd love to help! #femalefounder #founder #startup #fundraising #investment #womeninleadership #startuplife #fundher #showherthemoney #saas #biotech #healthtech #AI #VC #fintech #medical #newsletter

FemWealth Issue 156 highlights 💌 In the Spotlight 💸 Founded and led by Paige Finn Doherty - one of the youngest solo GPs in the VC industry, Behind Genius Ventures launched its 2nd fund with $8.9M in capital commitments. The US firm aims to write checks between $150-250K. The new fund’s thesis revolves around compelling brand stories. Startups News: - Co-founded by Sami Jenkins, ThreatLocker, a US zero trust endpoint security company, announced $115M in Series D  - Co-founded by Joanna Strober and Sharon Meers, Midi Health, a US startup that offers telehealth services tailored to women undergoing perimenopause and menopause, secured a $60M Series B extension - Co-founded by Bonnie Anderson and Giulia Kennedy, PinkDx, Inc., a US company that develops diagnostic tools focused on women’s health issues, raised $40M in Series A - Co-founded by Kristina Saffran and Erin Parks, Ph.D., Equip, a US telehealth startup that provides virtual eating disorder treatment services, raised $35M - Co-founded and led by Pauline Glikman, Payflows, a Franch AI-powered SaaS finance platform, raised €25M in Series A   - Co-founded and led by Dominique Demolle, Cognivia, a Belgian biotech that develops machine learning algorithms for clinical research in the pharma industry, raised €15.5M - Led by CEO Kate Henningsen, Infogrid, a London-based smart building platform for facilities and building management, raised $13M in a Series B extension - Co-founded by Caroline Grey, Treefera, a forestry data platform that measures the effectiveness of conservation projects and the impact of carbon credit schemes, raised $12M in Series A  - Co-founded and led by Ellen D., Summer Health, a US startup that offers message-based pediatric services, raised a $11.65M Series A  - Co-founded and led by Christina LaMontagne, Clarity Pediatrics, a US startup providing pediatric chronic care for patients with ADHD, raised a $10M Seed round - Co-founded by Clo G., CARV, a US data layer platform that enables gamers and web3 gaming companies to control and monetize their data, raised a $10M Series A round  - Co-founded and led by Annu Talreja, Accacia, a Singapore-based decarbonisation platform for the real estate and infrastructure sectors, closed a $6.5M pre-Series A  - Co-founded by Monica Chopra and Samantha Adelberg, Auxa Health, a US startup that provides an AI-powered benefit navigation solution, raised a $5.2M Seed round - Co-founded by Marie Bedu, RockFi, a Franch private wealth management platform that connects private bankers and managers with customers, raised €3M - Founded by designer Trine Y., Rodinia Generation, a Copenhagen startup that aims to combat garment overproduction, raised €3M  - Co-founded and co-led by Maria Tanjala and Irina Albita, FilmChain, a London startup that automates payment and revenue management for the film and TV industries, raised €2.8M https://lnkd.in/dnF-iQNj? #Tech #Startups #VC #Femaleled

Challenging the Myth of Co-Founders. If you’ve ever thought you needed a co-founder to start a successful business, think again. "The Myth of Co-Founders," featuring Gaia’s founder Nader AlSalim, is a powerful read on breaking that assumption. Nader went solo from investment banking at Goldman Sachs to reshaping fertility care—and Gaia’s impact has been profound. His advice? Don’t wait for the “perfect partner” to take your first step. Instead, build a strong team and stay committed to your mission. For Nader, Gaia wasn’t just a startup but a solution born from his personal journey with IVF. Today, Gaia helps make IVF affordable, ensuring people only pay if they succeed. In a world of “startup rules,” Gaia shows us that true innovation often comes from the courage to redefine the journey. #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #FertilityCare #Gaia

Following the last few weeks of VetVerifi 🐾 funding news from InvestTN and joining Leap, I'm proud to share that we've successfully (and now officially) closed our $1.5 million pre-seed fundraise, an enormous milestone for our young company. 🎉 Starting a company from zero ain't easy and certainly isn't for the faint of heart. And raising capital in these economic times kept us on our toes for sure. But I couldn't imagine 2 better partners than Chris and Tim as my co-authors in this incredible story we're writing each day. And the next chapter will be one to remember. The list of folks to show love to is long, but we simply would not be here without them. Couldn't imagine leaving them out of this post, so here goes... Our early development partners at Acklen Avenue have been ride-or-die with us every step of the way. Juan Carlos, Hendry, Manuel, Colleen, Dan, Ruthie & co all feel like an extension of our team. We simply would not have gotten off the ground if it wasn't for their confidence in us as entrepreneurs and in our vision over 2 years ago when we were side-hustling with day jobs, building our v1 product. Kristen - thanks for bringing the DRIVE every single day to team VV. You are the definition of hustle. 💪 Our round was led by Bitwerx, Inc. & co, and we couldn't have asked for better partners to help us shape our early data model for scale. To Jason, Chad, and team - thanks for the unwavering belief from day one. Cheers to (continuing to) building incredible things together. To our new friends at Mars Petcare, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, and R/GA Ventures - cheers to reaching incredible new heights together. We're so impressed with the human beings that you are and the passion you bring to helping startups like us launch well. Thanks for being some of the most incredible people we get to work with. And sometimes you meet the right people and know they are perfect for your cap table, but they haven't launched their fund yet. So you just wait, keep your round open a bit longer, and have faith until it works out. Brandon, John, and the team at Market Square Ventures in Knoxville, we're honored to be one of the first in your portfolio - you inspire us greatly. And last, some of our earliest mentors, clients, partners, and coaches. The folks we called at night asking "are we crazy?", the friends who leaned in to offer advice, the clinics that agreed to be our earliest integration beta testers (even when we were so far off on delivering any value back), the superfans that have been consistently cheering us on, the early angel investors that bet on us as entrepreneurs and got behind the vision. Hannah, Ben, Martin, Daniel, Sean, Jeremy, Julie, Jeremy, Stacee, Eller, Isaiah, LaunchTN, Killian, Sara, Jonathan, Chris, Jennifer & the Kennelwood team, Arch Grants, Nicholas, Alicia, Zac - thank you. 💜 Onward to the next chapter. [link to press release in comments]

💡 How this European woman built a multi-million dollar company? Let’s see, 1. Meet an inspiring entrepreneur, Caroline Noublanche, whom an issue led from visionary to successful entrepreneur. 🎯 2. At a young age of 27, she launched her 1st startup, PRYLOS, a startup in mobile marketing and app #development.⏩ 3. However, in 2011, she sold it to #Swedish telecoms giant Doro AB. Soon, she joined Kamet Ventures to help them build health tech startups.⏩ 4. During this time, she observed that most people experience difficulties in conceiving naturally.❌ 5. She noticed that one in 6 couples and over 3 million people face challenges in conceiving children due to various factors, including delaying parenthood and #environmental factors.❌ 6. This time, she identified a gap in the IVF sector, observing that it had seen very little digital transformation over the past 40 years and was in need of disruption.❌ 7. Noublanche’s experience motivated her to launch a new startup, Apricity Fertility, as a solution to fill the gap. 🚀 8. Finally, in July 2018, she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey at Apricity Fertility, the world's first virtual fertility clinic.✅ 9. This London-based health tech company offers personalised virtual care, enabling people to get support from home using the latest technology, so that people can get help no matter where they are.✅ 10. The best part of her story is that, despite ignoring the issue, she saw this as an opportunity and converted it into a multimillion-dollar company.🙌 💫 Caroline Noublanche became a successful entrepreneur with her unwavering enthusiasm and passion. Read more - https://lnkd.in/gGqqT6aC To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #Eustartup #Healthtech #ApricityFertility #Europeanstartup #Enterprenureship #Bussiness #Empowering #startup #startupstory

Venture philanthropy as enabler for progress toward curing paralysis: way to go! Hopefully next investments can include therapies focusing on chronic spinal cord injury and on neuro-regeneration / biological repair of the spinal cord.

The future of maternal and reproductive health is being shaped by visionaries like Alice Crisci and Ovum Health. From advanced diagnostics to addressing chronic conditions, they’re setting new standards in holistic care. Investing in Ovum Health isn’t just supporting a company—it’s championing better health for all. #MaternalHealth #EquityCrowdfunding #Innovation

🎉 Congratulations to our friend and investor Adrien Cohen for launching SCI Ventures, a first-of-its-kind venture philanthropy fund dedicated to investing in innovative therapies for spinal cord injury (SCI).     The venture philanthropy fund model was pioneered in SCI by Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a key investor in our company. SCI Ventures is now building on the progress they’ve made and scaling the model. We are proud to be one of SCI Ventures’ first portfolio companies. 🌟    Adrien is a serial tech entrepreneur who became interested in cutting-edge therapies addressing SCI after his brother suffered an injury. Upon identifying the lack of funding for companies working toward solutions for the SCI Community, Adrien sprang into action, bringing together the most influential SCI advocacy groups in the world. 🌎    The launch of SCI Ventures marks the first time that five of the leading foundations addressing spinal cord injury in the US, the UK, and the EU have come together in support of a novel investment vehicle. Co-founders are the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Wings for Life - Spinal Cord Research Foundation, Spinal Research, the Promobilia Foundation and the Shepherd Center.     To learn more about SCI Ventures and its vision, watch this interview with Adrien and our CEO Dave Marver as they discuss the importance of investment to drive groundbreaking solutions for those with SCI ⬇️    All ONWARD® Medical devices and therapies, including but not limited to ARC-IM®, ARC-EX®, ARC-BCI™, and ARC Therapy™, alone or in combination with a brain-computer interface (BCI), are investigational and not available for commercial use.    #EmpoweringMovement #SCI #SCIVentures    https://lnkd.in/gex9b9aE