1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Pamela York of Atasi Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: This is Capita3?

Pamela York: Yes, it was formed in 2016. In our first venture fund, we raised just over $1 million in 2018 just to get into the marketplace and start investing. About the time COVID hit, we were due to go out and start raising fund two. We are looking at that right now and understanding when and how to do that.  

Sramana Mitra: What kind of businesses do you invest in?

Pamela York: We invest in early-stage startups – pre-seed, series A – all in health and healthcare. We formed a strong intention to invest in only women CEOs. When we launched Capita3 in 2015 to 2016, a lot was happening behind the scenes for women but it wasn’t being talked about.

We really didn’t know what the pipeline was for female founders. Since then, a lot of people are investing in women. Everybody knows that women produce good results. A lot of our thesis has gotten proven since then, but back then we weren’t sure and so a lot of the firms died.

We wanted to invest more broadly in female founders who may or may not have been a woman CEO. We decided to change that and find women CEOs because we wanted to make that statement. Our goal was to find phenomenal companies and we have been able to do that. We have made six investments to date.

We want to invest in things that help us feel and be healthy. We want to get out in front of the disease state using evidence-based methods to feel and become healthy. Those are the kinds of things that we have been investing in. 

Sramana Mitra: What about geography? What is your preference?

Pamela York: We would like to invest in the Midwest. We have one investment there. We do seek investment nationwide in the US. We are seeking companies wherever they are in the United States. 

Sramana Mitra: Let’s talk about some of these investments. What did they do? What stage did they come to you? What is it about these particular entrepreneurs or companies that made you want to write a check?

Pamela York: I worked with hundreds of startup companies and have seen thousands of technologies across a diverse set of industries. We have a really strong appetite for things that really have the capacity to change something significant in health. That’s the first filter.

We knew that we wanted to invest in the early stage, anywhere from pre-revenue to where they need capital to scale. We have investments from pre-seed to a series B. Most of our investments are going into series A.

We were looking for CEOs that have a vision and have an understanding of the milestones required to achieve that vision. We wanted CEOs that have a vision that is grounded on reality. We wanted to make sure that they are knowledgeable in the market segment, are able to sell, and have product-market fit.

We are looking at that spectrum of unknown and determining how they work and navigate to identify problems and find solutions for them. We are happy to invest in a high-risk early stage company as long as they are demonstrating the understanding of the milestones that they need to reach along that path. 

This segment is part 2 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Pamela York of Atasi Ventures
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