A Houston-based venture capital group focused on investing in startups led by women is raising money for its first fund.
Founded in 2020, Curate Capital invests in female-founded companies with female-focused products or services. Carrie Colbert, founder and general partner of Curate Capital, established the venture capital firm after years of investing her own personal capital as an angel investor. After achieving strong traction with her own fund centered around female-led ventures, Colbert is raising $10 million for Curate Capital's first official fund: Curate Capital Fund I.
Prior to Curate Capital, Colbert spent 17 years in the oil and gas industry, before "retiring" from the sector around five years ago, she said. Colbert spent the vast majority of her career at Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co., one of the largest oil and gas firms in the Houston market.
"We're trying to wrap up our fundraising by the end of [the first quarter] so that we can start deploying those funds rapidly to these founders and let them put those dollars to work," Colbert said.
Curate Capital's portfolio is industry agnostic, but Colbert said the fund will focus on investments in early-stage companies with promising products or services tailored to women. Companies currently in Curate's portfolio include Houston-based SocialMama, a digital platform with a supportive community of mothers, Seattle-based GlamHive, a provider of personal stylist services, and Austin-based lifestyle brand Packed Party, which sells products at retailers like Walmart and Whole Foods.
"We want to keep our number of companies fairly small because we do take active board positions, as well as advisory roles," Colbert said. "Because of that, we're able to negotiate fairly attractive positions in these companies."
Curate makes average investments of around $500,000 into its portfolio companies, Colbert said.
Colbert and her husband, Mark Latham, are the two-person team behind Curate Capital. Many of Curate's back office and support functions are being outsourced, but Colbert said Curate does plan to add analyst positions in the future.
Female-founded startups across the globe receive a fraction of the venture dollars invested into startups founded by men. A Boston Consulting Group study from June 2018 analyzed 350 startups, 92 of which were founded or co-founded by women. Investments into female-led companies averaged $955,000, while investments into male-led companies averaged $2.12 million. But for every dollar of funding, female-led startups generate 78 cents, compared to 31 cents from male-led startups, per the BCG study. During 2020, venture capital funding into female-founded companies decreased by 27% year-over-year, according to Crunchbase.
Other organizations in Houston are working to level the playing field for female founders and generate returns for investors. The Artemis Fund launched in 2019 to make investments into female-founded startups. Last week, The Artemis Fund doled out a $250,000 investment prize to Houston-based Work & Mother during the Venture Houston 2021 pitch competition. A network of female institutional investors in Houston — Women Investing in VC in Houston — formally organized in 2020 to connect local women in the investing space.
