BBG Ventures raises $60 million for its latest fund and moves beyond just backing female founders

• New York-based BBG Ventures has raised a caller $60 cardinal fund.
• The latest money will put successful some female founders and those pinch divers backgrounds.
• New investors successful nan money see Pivotal Ventures, California Endowment, and Mizuho.

Only a fistful of VCs sought retired women entrepreneurs erstwhile AOL media execs Susan Lyne and Nisha Dua launched BBG Ventures successful 2014 to exclusively backmost female founders. Ten years later, nan seed shape money has raised a caller $60 cardinal money and is moving beyond conscionable backing female founders to immoderate entrepreneur from a divers background.

"This is not astir abandoning women, but expanding our instruction to backmost a divers founding team," Lyne told Business Insider.

Founders from divers backgrounds person taken a deed amid nan funding slump successful task capital. In nan first half of 2024, Black-founded US startups received $228 cardinal successful backing — aliases astir .3% of nan astir $79 cardinal that went to U.S.-based startups, according to Crunchbase data. The dollar full is simply a 60% driblet from nan first half of 2023.

Lyne and Dua teamed up astatine AOL successful 2014 to create a $10 cardinal fund, BBG, to backmost female founders and invested early successful Spring Health, which was mostly precocious valued astatine $3.3 billion, and artifact marque KiwiCo.

When Verizon bought AOL successful 2015, BBG Ventures separated and raised a caller $50 cardinal fund. For nan first time, it raised superior from organization investors, including nan State of Michigan Retirement Services and Illumen Capital. Investments see genAI startup Topline Pro and skincare institution Starface.

Dua said that these LPs returned to backmost their newest money and besides accrued their commitments. New investors successful nan nosy see Fairview Capital, Pivotal Ventures, California Endowment, and Mizuho. Previous investors Nordstrom, Verizon, and Bank of America besides invested successful nan $60 cardinal fund.

Dua explained that nan determination to move beyond exclusively backing conscionable female founders reflects nan duo's displacement successful thesis astir innovation. "There are underrepresented groups astir not conscionable gender but besides race, age, and income," said Dua.

She emphasized that female founders are still a immense attraction area but that nan patient is excited to backmost strong, underrepresented founders successful healthcare, fintech, and nan investment area astir each VCs clamoring to back: AI. The caller money has already backed an AI recruiting startup for hourly workers, UpWage.

BBG isn't becoming an AI-focused patient anytime soon though, Dua cautioned. "Some costs are building a portfolio of conscionable AI companies," she said. "That's not us." She highlighted a caller finance retired of nan caller money successful Nara, a startup that has created an FDA-approved, certified integrated full beverage formula. "It's important for america to beryllium circumspect wherever AI tin thrust maturation successful definite startups," added Dua.

For Dua and Lyne, being an emerging money head and raising a caller fund is "not easy." "The immense mostly of VC backing this twelvemonth goes to a very mini excavation of funds, and sub-$100 cardinal costs person a tougher clip raising," said Lyne. She added because of nan title to raise costs from LPs, galore costs are taking longer to make decisions and waiting to spot what returns a money makes earlier investing again.

"Many of our LPs judge successful effect and trying to broaden entree to capital," said Lyne. "We raised much than our past fund, and I deliberation it's validation of our thesis."