The Artemis Fund is doubling down on the fintech space.
The Houston-based venture capital fund, which focuses on investments into startups founded by or led by women in the C-suite, led a $26 million Series B funding round raised by California-based college savings platform UNest, the startup announced Nov. 17. Artemis previously led a $2 million round UNest raised in 2019 and participated in the fintech firm's $9 million Series A in 2020.
Led by founder and CEO Ksenia Yudina, UNest develops a platform to assist families with college savings through monthly contribution plans, gifting features for friends and family, financial education and other offerings. The company has raised nearly $40 million from investors to date.
"We are proud to lead this round because of the tremendous traction and impact achieved by UNest," said Leslie Goldman, co-founder and general partner at The Artemis Fund. "The Artemis Fund is on a mission to diversify wealth by investing in iconic female founders like Ksenia. Her tremendous vision and ability to meet and exceed targets have impressed us since the moment we met her. We are her unwavering partner in democratizing access to financial stability and freedom for the next generation."
The Artemis Fund, launched in 2019, closed its first venture capital fund at $15 million in the first quarter of 2021. The fund was raised from 96 different limited partners, including individuals, foundations, corporate partners, a law firm and a bank, said fund co-founders and general partners Diana Murakhovskaya and Stephanie Campbell.
Several of Artemis' portfolio companies operate in the financial technology space. Since launching, Artemis has also invested in Houston-based companies Upgrade Boutique and Work & Mother.
Venture-backed firms in the U.S. with a female founder or co-founder raised $25.12 billion in the first half of 2021, more than the total of any other year, according to an analysis of PitchBook data. However, fundraising disparities remain between companies with male, female and mixed-gender leadership teams — male founders had brought in 83% of all deal dollars through late August, according to PitchBook.
