A Los Angeles-based venture capital firm with ties to the Valley plays a role in a new film that sheds light on funding disparities for women entrepreneurs.
Emmeline Ventures is featured in "Show Her the Money," a documentary exploring how to address underfunding of women-led startups, which received less than 2.1% of all venture capital invested in companies nationwide in 2022, according to data from PitchBook.
"Show Her the Money” is directed by Ky Dickens and executive produced by Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress Sharon Gless; Dawn LaFreeda, franchisee of Denny's restaurants; Catherine Gray, founder of SheAngel Investors and Kadabra CEO Wendy Ryan.
The documentary follows the journey of four women entrepreneurs as they navigate and overcome challenges scaling their companies. It also showcases investors backing the women-led startups, which have the potential to become billion-dollar companies.
Emmeline Ventures co-founders and general partners La Keisha Landrum Pierre, Naseem Sayani and Azin Radsan van Alebeek — who lives in the Valley — filmed a scene for the movie in which they meet with a potential limited partner for the first time, illustrating the process of an investor meeting a venture capital firm.
The movie premiered last month at the Women’s Film Festival in Philadelphia with future dates slated in Salt Lake City; Minneapolis; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Los Angeles and New York City.
Radsan van Alebeek said the film is about changing the narrative around underfunding for women-led startups as well as spreading education on venture capital.
“The topic of venture capital is talked about a lot … but most people don’t know how it works and aren’t invited to the table to learn how it works or aren’t in social groups where it’s talked about,” she said. ”We’re hoping this film spreads awareness and education, and can get primarily women — but also men — to expand their thinking in how they can get involved in investing in a very impactful and profitable way.”
Emmeline Ventures
Emmeline Ventures invests in female and female-identifying founders building businesses that empower women to manage their health, wealth and environment.
Landrum Pierre, Sayani and Radsan van Alebeek met at a 12-week virtual investor boot camp in fall 2020 that was focused on bringing more women and people of color into the venture investing space.
“We had this bulk of (venture capital) experience. We had been working in it and this boot camp really helped us think about looking at venture with a different lens. ‘How can we use our talents and experiences to create more wealth for people who look like us?" Radsan van Alebeek said. “We didn't know each other before, but this was a magnet to bring us in.”
In 2021, Emmeline Ventures established a pilot fund consisting of the co-founders' personal capital and made more than a dozen investments in companies within the health care, financial services, sustainability, content creation and cybersecurity segments.
In April 2022, Emmeline Ventures built upon the success of its pilot fund and officially launched the firm and its first fund with an inaugural investment in Clutch Wallet.
To date, Emmeline Ventures has 18 portfolio companies, including AOA, Infiuss Health, LunaJoy, Wabbi and Rebel Girls, according to the firm's website.
'Blue ocean opportunities'
The firm is looking to invest in "blue ocean opportunities" that arise from gender inequity, including startups creating solutions for women in the areas of maternal and general health. Blue ocean refers to a concept of brand-new markets and industries that have either been overlooked or are ripe for disruption.
"Those sectors that don't have a lot of competition, don’t have a lot of players or that we don't even know necessarily exist today — that's what we're thinking about," Radsan van Alebeek said. "We give it a gender focus because the traditional VC market has not focused on women. Only 2% of funding has gone to women. The markets and sectors that really service women have not been very well funded, despite being very large markets that are growing at big rates. Traditional VC just doesn't invest in it. So it's an opportunity.”
Emmeline Ventures is continuing to raise capital for its first fund with a target of $25 million, Radsan van Alebeek said.
“We're looking to fund probably 25 to 30 companies for the full maturity of the fund,” she said. “We’ve taken our investment thesis from our pilot fund and we've refined it for Emmeline Ventures fund one, but it's pretty much the same and we invest in pre-seed and seed at that stage.”
While Emmeline Ventures has not yet invested in any Valley startups, the firm is on the lookout for local companies that align with its thesis, Radsan van Alebeek said.
“What we are doing as a fund is investing in spaces that are important, that aren’t getting the attention they need,” she said. “We are building momentum and awareness as well as building businesses and delivering returns.”
