1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Kara Weber of Brilliant Ventures (Part 4)

Kara Weber: I talked about a female-founded company in LA and a female-founded company in New York. We don’t just invest in companies founded by women but 65% of our companies have female founders. Today, I’m going to focus on female-founded businesses.

Riveter is a Seattle-based company with locations in Seattle and Los Angeles. Riveter is a female-forward co-working space and community designed by women for everyone. It’s this incredible new addition for women who are starting businesses, running their own businesses, doing creative work, and running companies. They’ve got three locations in Seattle. They now have two in Los Angeles.

All of those locations have very quickly not only attracted lots of members who do co-working but fantastic events. Jane Fonda has held a couple events around her work for bringing better wages to restaurant workers. I think all of the current sitting female US senators have now spoken at events at the Riveter. The Riveter has really become this brand and point of gravity for intelligent women making powerful things happen. That’s an investment we’re incredibly proud of.

I invested in that one even though there wasn’t a commerce component at the time of our investment. We recognized that the opportunity to create this incredible community around educated, entrepreneurial women was going to create unparalleled commerce opportunities. It was forward-thinking and not quite as on the nose as our typical commerce-related investments, but we were looking at its future potential.

Sramana Mitra: What are the trends that you’re seeing in your deal flow?

Kara Weber: I’m seeing so many deals right now. I’m having a hard time sifting through them right now. The trends that I’m seeing are the ones I alluded to earlier. We’re seeing a lot of companies who have to be a lot further along in order to get their first check. The era of back-of-the-napkin funding has long passed for all but the most proven entrepreneurs.

Sramana Mitra: Everybody wants companies that are already in revenue.

Kara Weber: It’s a huge shift even in the last couple of years. There is an influx of support and resources for women founders, who were previously underrepresented. I’m extraordinarily proud to be part of the LA Venture and Entrepreneurial Community where diversity is celebrated and supported. The city of Los Angeles has its Pledge LA initiative, which I’m honored to have been a part of. Most of the venture firms in the LA and many of the tech companies have signed on to this pledge for commitment to diversity and civic engagement with our companies and firms.

We’ve looked what’s happened in other markets like San Francisco where there is now a major schism between the people of San Francisco and the tech companies. It feels very adversarial. We want the boom of technology in LA to benefit everyone in LA. I’m very proud to be part of a market where there are a lot of female founders and investors of colors. Backstage Capital is based here in LA. She is in the process of raising a $36 million fund that will only invest in black female founders. Backstage is based at the Riveter. I love how that’s come together.

Sramana Mitra: The trend that you really want to highlight is female entrepreneurship.

Kara Weber: The trend is in growing recognition of founders who do not fit the classic patterns that VCs sought to match, which were white guys who went to Harvard or Stanford. That is changing. There are more women and folks who don’t meet that pattern.

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

This segment is part 4 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Kara Weber of Brilliant Ventures
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