To spotlight some of the country's promising women-led startups, American Inno has compiled its first national Female Founders to Watch list, a collection of startup leaders behind fast-growing young firms. With input from our startup reporters in more than 40 cities across the country, we're providing a list of names that need to be on your radar — from founders leading artificial-intelligence unicorns to bootstrapped founders just getting started.
Our Startups to Watch series, which also includes AI Startups to Watch and serial entrepreneurs to watch, is designed to give a snapshot of thriving founders and companies from across the country.
Female founders have long struggled to raise startup funding compared to their male counterparts, and there have been a slew of new funds and initiatives launched in recent years to get more money in the hands of women-led startups.
Even with increased efforts to boost these startups, the amount of venture capital that makes its way to female founders has remained paltry. And when it comes to startups led by all-women founders, funding is declining. Startups led by all-women teams raised just 1.9% of all VC funding last year, down from 2.4% the year prior. Startups with at least one female founder raised 17% of all venture capital funding in 2022, the same percentage raised in 2021.
But a lack of capital hasn't stopped female founders from innovating, and American Inno's list aims to provide a snapshot of growing women-led startups that are disrupting their respective industries. Dive into our inaugural Female Founders to Watch list below:
Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic
HQ: San Francisco
Funding: $3.3 billion
Anthropic, an AI firm that's become one of the most well-funded startups of 2023, is developing a generative AI chatbot rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT that's designed to be more attuned to safety and legal issues than its competitor, the company says. It's led by Amodei and others who previously worked at OpenAI. Anthropic's chatbot, named Claude, launched in September. Anthropic raised $450 million in May and raised an additional $1.25 billion in September from Amazon. Amazon's deal with Anthropic could see it invest up to $4 billion in the two-year-old startup. Additionally, Google announced it plans to invest $2 billion in the startup.
Rehgan Avon, founder of AlignAI
HQ: Columbus, Ohio
Funding: Bootstrapped
Avon is the founder of AlignAI, a startup that offers a set of templates organizations can use to set standards and documentation for data, enabling them to more quickly adopt machine learning or other AI tools. Its customers include the Central Ohio Transit Agency, which uses the startup to create the standards and processes for how it collects and documents data.
Jemma Barbarise-Kelley, founder of LifeBrand
HQ: Philadelphia
Funding: $37 million
Barbarise-Kelley is the founder of LifeBrand, a tech startup that uses artificial intelligence to detect potentially harmful posts on social media. Working with both individuals and companies, LifeBrand has cleaned more than 8 million such posts across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Its clients include the Philadelphia Eagles and 76ers, Saint Joseph’s University, and law firm Blank Rome.
Maria Barrera, founder of Clayful
HQ: Miami
Funding: $150,000
Barrera is the founder of Clayful, a Miami company that develops on-demand, text-based wellness support for students. The startup aims to address the youth mental-health crisis through its chat-based coaching. The company received a $150,000 investment from the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund earlier this year.
Leslie Bateman, co-founder of Coblrshop
HQ: Boston
Funding: Bootstrapped
Bateman, a former Uber executive, wants to help bring the shoe-cobbler industry into the 21st century with her startup, Coblrshop. The company lets users order repair service online and receive a bag in the mail to then ship their shoes to its cobblers. After shipping the shoes off, the refurbished pair will arrive back to them within two weeks.
Courtney Caldwell, co-founder of ShearShare
HQ: Buffalo, New York
Funding: $5.5 million
Caldwell is the co-founder of ShearShare, a marketplace that provides B2B tools for self-employed hair stylists. The startup helps users find space to work as well as obtain portable health care and continued education. It has more 53,000 users on its platform. In October, it landed a deal with JCPenney with plans to bring ShearShare to all 629 of its salon sites.
Julia Cheek, founder of Everlywell
HQ: Austin, Texas
Funding: $325M
Julia Cheek was director of strategy and operations at the George W. Bush Institute and then vice president of corporate strategy at MoneyGram International before she started Everlywell, which launched in 2015 to sell at-home health test kits for fertility, cholesterol, STDs and more. Everlywell has raised $325 million to date. The startup saw a major boost during the pandemic for its at-home health services and became a unicorn after raising $175 million in late 2020.
Charlotte Dales and Sarah Bernard, co-founders of Inclusively
HQ: St. Louis
Funding: $4.3 million
Dales and Bernard are the founders of Inclusively, a jobs platform that helps companies find employees with disabilities or chronic illnesses and military veterans. The startup, whose customers include major firms like Accenture and Salesforce, raised $4.3 million last year from investors including Gayle Benson, owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Inclusively's growth comes as companies are placing more of a focus on people with disabilities within their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Jessica Ewing, co-founder of Literati
HQ: Austin, Texas
Funding: $55 million
Ewing is the founder of Literati, a subscription book club startup for kids. The startup delivers book boxes to a reader based on their pace and interests, with the goal of nurturing a child's interest in reading. The company has raised more than $50 million since launching in 2016, with backing from former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund.
Anya Freeman, founder of Kind Designs
HQ: Miami
Funding: $5 million
Freeman is the founder of Kind Designs, a startup that builds "living" seawalls that protect coastal communities. The startup makes 3D-printed seawalls that are designed to mimic coral reefs and mangroves, making it possible for the structures to protect shorelines from flooding while creating an ecosystem for marine life. The seawalls also are embedded with sensor systems to collect water quality data. The startup raised $5 million in September.
Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, co-founders of WorkTorch
HQ: Wichita, Kansas
Funding: $4 million
Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall are the founders of WorkTorch, a recruiting startup originally named QuickHire. Its app aims to connect employers and job seekers in the trades and other traditional blue-collar industries. The two Wichita sisters count Dunkin’ Donuts and Homewood Suites by Hilton among their corporate clients, and their venture's investors include Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
Aleks Gosiewski, founder of Keel Labs
HQ: Morrisville, North Carolina
Funding: $18 million
Gosiewski is the founder of Keel Labs, a startup working to transform seaweed into sustainable textiles. The startup's technology was on display at this year's Paris Fashion Week when designer Stella McCartney used the company's seaweed-made yarn in some of its dresses. Keel Labs' investors include the investment arm of the clothing company H&M.
Liz Giorgi and Hayley Anderson, co-founders of Soona
HQ: Minneapolis and Denver
Funding: $56.1 million
Giorgi and Anderson are the founders of Soona, a same-day photo startup operating out of Minneapolis and Denver that makes content for e-commerce companies. The startup, which raised a $35 million Series B in 2022, recently launched an AI-powered analytics platform that can tell clients how their images are performing online.
Addie Gundry and Brittany Hizer, co-founders of Pluie
HQ: Chicago
Funding: $3.5 million
Gundry and Hizer as the founders of Pluie, a startup that makes a self-sanitizing diaper-changing table for public restrooms. Powered by a UV-C light system that's turned on when the table is folded and not in use, Pluie says it can kill 99.9% of germs, bacteria and viruses. The startup was featured on an episode of the ABC reality show "Shark Tank" earlier this year and counts airports, amusement parks and health-care centers among places that have installed its changing tables.
Melissa Hanna, co-founder of Mahmee
HQ: Los Angeles
Funding: $13 million
Hanna is the co-founder and CEO of Mahmee, a maternal health-care company that aims to improve the birth outcomes in historically marginalized communities. It does this by providing comprehensive support during the pregnancy and postpartum periods. Mahmee recently launched a membership offering for expecting and new parents that will give each member their own team of nurses, lactation consultants, doulas, mental-health coaches, nutritionists and care coordinators, all available seven days a week, virtually and in-person through Mahmee clinics. Mahmee's investors include Serena Williams and Mark Cuban.
Katie Hill, founder of Unlisted
HQ: Dayton, Ohio
Funding: $40,000
Hill is the founder of Unlisted, a startup building a new way for home buyers to explore off-market homes. Homebuyers and agents can search the address of a home or multiple homes they are interested in that are not on the market. Unlisted will then do an outreach campaign to the homeowners, sending a proposal in the form of an eye-catching golden package.The package includes a letter from the interested party to the homeowner about why they like the house and a secure and anonymous invitation code. The code enables the homeowner to engage in conversation with the seller and the seller’s agent to see if they can make a deal. The startup won first place and $40,000 at the University of Chicago alumni accelerator program last year.
Meenal Lele, founder of Lil Mixins
HQ: Philadelphia
Funding: $4.6 million
Lele is the founder of Lil Mixins, a startup focused on mitigating and preventing food allergies in children. The company sells breastfeeding probiotics, prenatal probiotics and formula feeding probiotics that tackle peanut, tree nut and egg allergies in children. The startup, which sells its products at Target, raised $3.3 million earlier this year.
Alisha Jiwani, founder of Nia Benefit
HQ: Birmingham, Alabama
Funding: Bootstrapped
Jiwani is the founder of Nia Benefit, a virtual burn-clinic platform working to fill a gap when it comes to access to burn care in Alabama.The virtual burn clinic addresses the lack of verified burn centers in the state by providing burn patients with an option that reduces wait times that would be experienced in an ER and connects them with physicians who specialize in burn care through telemedicine.
Somi Javaid, founder of HerMD
HQ: Cincinnati
Funding: $30 million
Javaid is an OB-GYN and founder of HerMD, a startup that operates centers dedicated to women’s sexual health and menopause. Javaid said she was driven to the health-care field after nearly losing her own mother to misdiagnosis. Her mom suffered from cardiovascular disease, yet her symptoms were consistently dismissed. The startup offers brick-and-mortar clinics and a virtual mental-health offering in California. HerMD raised an $18 million round in July.
Mary-Cathryn Kolb, founder of Brrr
HQ: Atlanta
Funding: $16 million
Kolb founded Brrr in 2014 to design fabrics that incorporate cooling technology into the yarn. Kolb, a former Spanx executive, raised a $6 million round for Brrr earlier this year, including an investment from David Chu, a fashion designer who runs social impact firm DC Design International. Brands that use its cooling technology in their fabrics include Vineyard Vines, Lily Pulitzer and Adidas.
Sadie Lincoln, founder of Barre3
HQ: Portland, Oregon
Funding: Bootstrapped
Lincoln founded fitness firm Barre3 in 2008, growing the business to more than 180 franchised studios around the globe. The company launched its digital platform in 2011, providing online workout classes to its users. Recently, the startup acquired The Barre Code, a Chicago-based chain with 21 locations. The acquisition makes Barre3 the largest women-owned omnichannel fitness brand offering in-person as well as streamable, on-demand coaching.
Fran Maier, co-founder of BabyQuip
HQ: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Funding: $10.7 million
Maier is the founder of BabyQuip, a startup that offers an online platform for people to rent baby gear. Maier co-founded Match.com in the 1990s before founding privacy management firm TRUSTe. She launched BabyQuip in 2016. The startup, which appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" in 2020, says it has more than 200,000 customers. It also launched a party gear rental service, called BabyQuip Party, in late April of this year.
Kristin Muhlner, co-founder of Affect Therapeutics
HQ: McLean, Virginia
Funding: $23 million
Muhlner is the co-founder of Affect Therapeutics, a substance-addiction therapy startup. Counseling services — from individual therapy to group meetings to doctor visits — are done through video on the app with counselors both employed and contracted with Affect Therapeutics. In July, the startup raised $16 million in a Series A round from Samsung Next and other investors.
Jessica Murrey, co-founder of Wicked Saints
HQ: Medford, Oregon
Funding: $4.6 million
Murrey is the founder of Wicked Saints, a video-game studio that recently raised a $3.5 million round led by video-game developer and publisher Riot Games. Wicked Saints is a graduate of the Niantic Black Developers Initiative, an incubator program from the maker of Pokemon Go. Wicked Saints' first game, "World Reborn," features immersive augmented reality and incorporates real world activities with in-game stories.
Haya Odeh, co-founder of Replit
HQ: San Francisco
Funding: $222 million
Odeh is the co-founder of Replit, a generative AI coding platform for developers. The startup, which raised funding at a $1 billion valuation earlier this year, helps developers save time while writing code. One of a number of promising startups in the fast-growing generative AI space, Replit said earlier this year it had more than 22 million developers using its platform.
Monika Roots, co-founder of Bend Health
HQ: Madison, Wisconsin
Funding: $32 million
Roots is the co-founder of Bend Health, a startup that provides virtual mental-health services for children, teens and their families using a measurement-based, collaborative-care model. Its approach allows patients to access care much faster than is typical with traditional providers, and it administers its services in collaboration with the patient's primary care provider. The startup announced earlier this year it had raised $32 million from a lineup of companies that includes Advocate Health, Foxconn, Johnson Controls International and Northwestern Mutual.
Michelle Tinsley, co-founder and president of YellowBird
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona
Funding: $8 million
Tinsley is the co-founder and president of YellowBird, a health and safety skilled-labor compliance and consulting app that matches subject-matter experts with construction, manufacturing and insurance companies. Tinsley, who spent more than two decades at Intel Corp., raised $6 million in a seed round this year from investors including Nationwide’s venture capital arm and Plug and Play.
Alessya Visnjic and Maria Karaivanova, co-founders of WhyLabs
HQ: Seattle
Funding: $14 million
Visnjic and Karaivanova are two of the co-founders at Seattle-based artificial-intelligence company WhyLabs, which spun out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in 2019. Its technology allows companies to monitor their machine-learning models, and it alerts them if the models are performing unpredictably. The venture is backed by Jeff Bezos's Bezos Expeditions.
Lauren Wright, founder of The Natural Nipple
HQ: Tampa, Florida
Funding: $356,000
Wright is the founder of The Natural Nipple, a startup that has developed a natural infant feeding alternative to breastfeeding. The startup, backed by Johnson & Johnson and The National Science Foundation, is designed for parents who experience difficulties with breastfeeding after the introduction of a standard bottle. It is described as the first infant feeding system to mimic the natural breast's shape, feel and milk flow.
