A Minnesota-based investment fund that wants to invest in women’s health startups in the area has a secured $1.2 million. The fund, Capita3, is led by businesswomen Sara Russick and Pam York, who will be looking to invest in up to 10 women-led health startups over the next few years, according to recent report from Minnesota Business Journals.
The firm’s venture funding round came from about three dozen different companies who are clearly inspired by the duo’s initiative to give back to women entrepreneurs in the fields of healthcare and medicinal science.
“Venture capital is shaping the world and there are very few women at that table,” Russick told reporters, according to Minnesota Business Journals. “We want to keep making connections and meeting with women passionate about startups, but who maybe have encountered accessibility issues. That’s where we can help.”
Both Russick and York have plenty of experience as angel investors and startup founders, giving them the right set of eyes for the next big thing in women’s health. The pair said that, through the Capita3 fund, it wants to encourage women who would normally be reluctant about opening a business or startup to do so.
“There are so many people who don’t think they can’t do this, but really it comes down to education,” Russick said, per Minnesota Business Journals.
Capita3 was initially founded by Russick and York in 2016. Since then, they have been influential in their roles in offering consultancy and development sessions for women business leaders. The sessions take up to 12 women at a time and, over the course of three weeks, they look to instill necessary business principles in the next wave of female-led companies.
“You can put money in a company, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be successful,” York told the news site. “It’s important to build and strengthen the entrepreneur first, which is what these cohorts do. It’s a value-add that few are focused on.”