• We adopt a collaborative strategy involving multiple forms of capital (financial, social, and human).

• We seek a return on character. We are a small, nimble organization looking for outstanding leaders with the character traits to successfully implement innovative solutions to complex challenges. We sift through the distractions to hear the individual, as well as the market or issue they aim to tackle. "Who" is doing the work is just as important as "what" impact and business they are building.

• We are grounded in systems thinking and view the gender data and finance gaps as two sides of the same coin. Although women establish 30% of startups, they receive less than 2% of global venture capital funding (UBS, 2023: The Funding Gap). This disparity both stems from and perpetuates the gender data gap - particularly in health, finance, and climate - where gender-disaggregated data remains limited or missing. Without accurate measurement, needs cannot be effectively designed for, funded, or addressed.

  We work to close these interconnected gender finance and data gaps toward advancing systemic change by supporting enterprises that tackle structural inequities and transforming broader narratives through the collection and synthesis of data on women, shared knowledge, and community-building.

  
  

How we support

• Investments: We offer equity and debt investments to early and mid-stage female entrepreneurs, aiming to address the “missing middle.” Our approach utilizes venture capital philanthropy as a risk-tolerant, impact-first method to support solutions overlooked by the market, providing patient, catalytic capital that meets the founder where she is and assists in de-risking investments for co-investors and/or follow-on investors.

• Limited Partnerships: We are a fund of funds that provides seed capital to first-time and female fund managers, focusing on working and bridge capital to help funds get to the next stage.

• Philanthropy: We provide catalytic grants to entrepreneurs, and to organizations engaged in research, advocacy, data collection, or impact evaluation that highlights women's visibility in health, society, finance, emerging technologies, and policy.

• Mentoring: We offer mentorship and assistance in obtaining follow-on financing.

• Advocacy: We amplify voices and disseminate research via our platform and through our partnership channels.

Our strategic approach

Our investment thesis

1. Founders: Female founder / CEO or a team of female co-founders.

2. Company stage: Pre-seed, Seed, Pre-Series A.

3. Regional operations: Africa, Latin America, the U.S. and Europe.

4. Registration: While we prefer for the company to be registered in the US, this will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

5. Impact:

   • Female beneficiaries: The company should have at least 50% female clients / beneficiaries.

   • Gender data gap: The company should have a product or service that addresses a gender data gap, with the view to making the world a more equitable place.

6. Alignment and fit: The company aligns with Investress’ mission.

7. Sector: We focus on sectors that are crucial for women's economic empowerment, address gender data gaps, and ensure that diverse female perspectives are integrated in existing and emerging technologies. We are particularly interested in female entrepreneurs involved in:

   • Women’s health

   • The care economy

   • Financial inclusion

   • Climate change

   • Supply chain support for female entrepreneurs

   • Tech

   • AI