A Cincinnati venture capital company founded and run by a woman has completed raising a $10 million fund.
Hyde Park-based H Venture Partners wrapped up fundraising by bringing 90 investors on board, Elizabeth Edwards, H Venture’s founder and managing partner, told me.
H Ventures will invest money from the fund in consumer companies. It has already invested in 10 companies over the past year-plus after it held a first close in January 2020. That enabled it to begin investing some of that committed capital.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” Edwards said of raising the fund. “There are always people that wonder, are you going to be able to raise this money. This puts us on the map. We already did it. Now we shift from telling investors what we’re going to do to what we have done. We’ve raised money, we’ve invested money and we’ve found companies.”
H Ventures stands out from the crowd because 93% of venture capital is managed by white men.
Although H Ventures was raising money amid the pandemic, that didn’t have much of a negative effect on fundraising, Edwards said.
“I had some investors saying sending money in to a venture capital fund right now feels like throwing cash into a dumpster fire,” she said. “But we invest in baby food and shampoo and wine. Everyone’s consumption of that did not change. The types of companies we invest in were minimally affected by Covid.”
H Ventures invests across North America in consumer companies, Edwards said.
“We look for science-based consumer brands that are better for human health and better for the environment,” she said. “There’s a ton of opportunity in the sector and not a lot of people invest in it.”
Just 3% of venture dollars go to consumer products, she said.
Its investors are primarily retired executives of consumer products and retail companies. They’re national in scope but include retired Cincinnati executives from Procter & Gamble Co., Kroger Co., Macy’s Inc. and consumer products company Kao, Edwards said. Investors also include retirees from companies such as Clorox, Revlon, Target and Nordstrom.
“Those 90 investors are our community,” Edwards said. “Those are the people we call on and that I spend the most time with.
H Ventures will have 15 portfolio companies in its first fund, Edwards said. It has already invested in 10 companies and has term sheets for three others. If those come to fruition as investment deals, it will have capital for just a couple more deals.
H Ventures typically makes an initial investment of $250,000 to $500,000 Edwards said. It invests at various points from pre-seed stage to seed stage, series A or series B. It leads the investment in some cases and participates with other venture capital firms on other deals.
Its investments include:
- Avaline, a Los Angeles-based organic wine brand launched by actress Cameron Diaz. Each wine is made with organic grapes grown without pesticides.
- Prima, an organic line of beauty, bath and health products infused with CBD. The products help with stress, pain relief and anxiety that’s sold at Sephora.
- Kindra, a Procter & Gamble spinoff used to treat symptoms of menopause.
