Rethink Impact’s Latest V.C. Fund Beats Expectations

  • Date: 09-Jul-2020
  • Source: The New York Times
  • Sector:Financial Markets
  • Country:GCC
  • Who else needs to know?

Rethink Impact’s Latest V.C. Fund Beats Expectations

DealBook Newsletter

Credit...Justin Heiman/Getty Images

July 9, 2020Updated 7:20 a.m. ET

Want this delivered to your inbox each morning? Sign up here.

Venture fund for female founders raises $182 million

Rethink Impact, a venture capital firm that invests exclusively in tech start-ups founded by women, plans to announce today that it has raised $182 million for its second fund, surpassing expectations.

Founded in 2016 by Jenny Abramson and Heidi Patel, Rethink has invested in an array of start-ups, including Guild Education, which partners with companies to offer workers employer-sponsored education programs, and Ellevest, a women-focused financial information start-up co-founded by Sallie Krawcheck, a former Citigroup C.F.O. It mostly invests in Series A and B funding rounds, alongside other venture firms.

The new fund will invest in female entrepreneurs at a crucial time, Ms. Abramson said: Venture investments in start-ups founded by women accounted for just 4.3 percent of all deals in the first quarter, down from 7 percent a year ago, according to Pitchbook.

“¢ "Female entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs of color and others are finding it harder than ever to get a meeting with a V.C.,“ Ms. Abramson told Michael.

“¢ The firm had originally sought to raise $150 million for the new fund, she added. Rethink Impact's first fund