$20 million impact investment fund launched in March
Plans is to make early-stage investments in high-growth, women-owned businesses
Fund already raised $5 million and made two investments
A $20 million impact investment fund launched in March to make early stage investments in high-growth, women-owned businesses — long a sector short on capital — isn't wasting any time.
Just a few months in, Belle Michigan Impact Fund has raised $5 million from 41 women investors and made its first two investments.
Former General Motors Co. executive Nancy Philippart and Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of Michigan Women Forward, a nonprofit that invests in low- to moderate-income female entrepreneurs without access to traditional capital, are the founders and general partners of the fund that is focusing its investments in areas in which its general partners have expertise, including technology, health care, manufacturing/supply chain, automotive and mobility.
"We're investing in women-owned businesses, and we're bringing more women into this investment opportunity and proving that it matters," Cassin said.
In 2017, U.S. startups led by women secured just $1.9 billion, or 2.2 percent, of the $85 billion in total venture capital funding, according to Pitchbook, a Seattle-based financial data and software company. On the investor side, last year just 11.3 percent of partners at VC firms in the U.S. were women, Pitchbook said.
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