W&F Issue 11 2018

www.wealthandfinance-news.com 24 Wealth & Finance International - Issue 11 - 2018 Portfolia Funds, a disruptive fintech company, just announced that they closed the largest venture fund in history, based on investing members. The Portfolia FemTech Fund, which is also the first fund in the nation to invest solely in women’s health companies, closed with 249 investors. They are also reported to be the first venture group to take advantage of the new number of allowable investors, which increased 2.5x this past summer due to recent legislative changes. “Most women say they want to invest in the private companies that they want in their marketplace, but don’t know how to get started. We are building ways to invest that align with women’s’ values and market needs and we are seeing them join Portfolia’s investing community en masse,” says Portfolia Founder and CEO Trish Costello. “Portfolia’s FemTech Fund saw 249 women join in just a few months’ time and over 100 women were on our waitlist when we hit our limit. Not only do women want to invest using our model, they are pulling in their networks to invest alongside them and to promote the companies we are investing in. For the first time in history women control more wealth than men in the United States. We are providing women the financial service solutions that they are delighted to use and it’s changing the future of finance.” Portfolia’s oversubscribed FemTech fund also announced its first investment, in Future Family, a FemTech startup that helps families more easily afford and navigate fertility services like IVF and egg freezing. Portfolia invested alongside Aspect Ventures, Ulu Ventures, BBG, and iNovia on their $10M series A round. “The Portfolia team is impressive and stood out for really understanding the market opportunity in the fertility space,” says Claire Tomkins, CEO of Future Family, “As a female CEO running a company where women make up the majority of our customers, having female investors backing us with their capital and their network is incredible. I believe the Portfolia network of investors will be powerful in helping us scale the business.” A key component of Portfolia’s scalable model is their best-in-class Lead Investor team comprised of domain experts stationed around the country. These Lead Investors help to drive Portfolia’s signature “learn by doing” approach by making investing in entrepreneurial companies accessible and highly engaging for the modern investor. From monthly evaluations of top entrepreneurial companies, to webinars and events, to sourcing top deals, Portfolia’s lead investors continue to be an integral part of Portfolia’s success. “I’m pleased to serve as a Lead Investor in Portfolia’s sixth fund by bringing emerging women’s health solutions to market at a time when there is clearly a strong market opportunity,” adds Portfolia Lead Investor and Managing Partner at Catalyst Health Ventures, Darshana Zaveri, who just had two significant exits with nVision and Augmenix. “Portfolia’s innovative model takes the diversification and management of traditional venture investing and layers in more relevant opportunities for education and engagement. I’m thrilled to be a part of this modern investing experience created for women by Portfolia.” Portfolia Funds is launching a general fund next, The FirstStep Fund which is has additional educational and community development opportunities for first time investors and those who want to hone their investing chops. Portfolia will launch 6 more funds by the end of next year before launching additional financial service products to activate 100,000 women investing by 2022. To learn more about Portfolia visit www.portfolia.com Portfolia’s FemTech fund is the first fund to aggregate 249 limited partners, focusing on affluent women. Silicon Valley’s Portfolia Closes First Women’s Health Venture Fund