By Amanda Wegner | Photo by Hillary Schave
Opportunity can lie in the most unlikely places — including the Jazz at Five beverage tent.
It was while volunteering at this annual event that Richelle Martin met Jazz at Five board member Ken Johnson, an angel investor and owner of the investment firm Kegonsa Capital Partners. Martin was working at UW-Madison’s Office of Industrial Partnerships, which helps researchers partner with for-profit businesses to obtain funding for research projects to advance innovation. The two connected on their enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and the desire to fill the gap in early-stage funding for companies coming out of Wisconsin’s colleges and universities.
As their conversations continued, Johnson encouraged Martin to start a new venture fund with the commitment of being her mentor and also investing on behalf of a different fund he managed.
From there, Winnow Fund was born, with Martin (who has a law degree from UW-Madison) as the managing partner. This early-stage venture capital fund has a particular interest in investing in companies spun out of Wisconsin’s higher education institutions but will invest in any company that meets its criteria. To date, it has made 10 initial investments; for instance, one investment was in RoddyMedical, which was started by a Wisconsin nurse who developed an armband that organizes and prevents a patient’s IV lines and tubes from accidentally dislodging. Winnow Fund has also made three follow-on investments, which is an additional investment in a company the fund has already supported.
“Quitting that job and signing up for 10 years of something that I had never done before was scary,” says Martin, explaining the initial investment fund has a 10-year lifespan. “I had to go into it with a ‘Why not?’ mentality … I was genuinely interested and it was an opportunity to help an underserved group of startups.”
And an opportunity to bring another woman into the space. At the time, Winnow Fund was the only solely women-led venture fund in Wisconsin.
Opening the Door Wider
The venture capital, or VC, space is traditionally a male-dominated one. According to the fourth edition of Deloitte’s VC Human Capital Survey, a biennial report last released in April 2023, female employees comprised 26% of all professionals in the VC space in 2022 nationally. Partners, or senior team members who help identify and evaluate investments, make up 19% of the sector’s workforce nationally.
“It was uncomfortable to go to events when I started [Winnow Fund] in 2018. There weren’t a lot of other women,” says Martin. “It’s not like anyone ever intentionally made it uncomfortable. It’s just that it was change, and with change, there will be a level of discomfort for everyone. I think everyone needs to accept that there will be some discomfort — that’s not good or bad, it just is.”
The door to the VC and startup space will continue to open wider via the same mechanism that brought Martin to start the Winnow Fund: connections.
“Working in venture capital is all about building trust and forming strong connections with founders, teams and peers,” says Darcey Nett, principal with HealthX Ventures, a digital health-focused venture fund. “While the industry is predominantly male, my success has come down to creating meaningful relationships, offering my unique perspective and using my skills to support innovative ideas to drive impactful growth.”
Katie Rice, venture relations manager for WARF Ventures, which provides seed and growth funding to startups that are commercializing UW-Madison technologies, adds that the VC space is a great opportunity for women who are good at building relationships and connecting. Rice and Martin both emphasize that there is no venture capital degree and no requirement for a specific academic or business background.
“The more diverse your background, the more beneficial it is to your role in venture. Whether you’ve been on the business side, you’re in HR or you’ve had experience in a number of different sectors as an operator, it really benefits you,” says Rice, who serves as both venture relations manager for WARF Ventures-backed companies and director of UpStart, a free entrepreneurship program for women and BIPOC founders. As venture relations manager, she provides post-investment support to companies, ranging from helping new businesses find a fractional CFO to connecting them with other investors in the space to support future funding rounds.
A diverse background is what has allowed Nett to thrive at HealthX Ventures. With experience at Fortune 500 companies, as an entrepreneur and successfully growing three startup businesses, these experiences gave her firsthand insight into how digital health solutions can transform care delivery.
“Venture capital became the perfect avenue to channel my entrepreneurial mindset — identifying and supporting the best founders, tackling complex challenges, and collaborating with both founders and investors to drive meaningful change in the healthcare space,” says Nett.
It’s the potential for meaningful change that keeps Abigail Barnes, founder and CEO of Amulet, a company that makes a portable food allergen and ingredient sensor, driving forward. “Being a startup founder and CEO can feel like a thankless job at times. But I consider it a deep privilege to work alongside so many talented individuals each day and to bring something entirely new into the world — and something that could change lives and industries for the better,” says Barnes. “There’s a certain magic in that — a magic I try to remind myself of, especially on the tougher days.”
Changing the Calculus
Rice explains that venture capital grew out of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, primarily through men in finance or early-stage builders doing handshake deals with friends and repeat entrepreneurs. “Because that’s how the whole industry initially grew, it’s been harder for others to break in.”
Funding numbers reflect this, but luckily, Wisconsin’s numbers outpace national metrics. According to Wisconsin Technology Council’s 2024 Wisconsin Portfolio, of the 107 investment rounds in 2023, 18% were with female founders or CEOs who secured $47 million, which is 10% of the total funding. In contrast, just 2% of startup investments nationally were secured by women in the same year.
The Tech Council’s report goes on to say what numerous founders have also said and experienced: “… there is still much progress to be made to achieve more parity between men and women in the early-stage market.”
However, as a function of numerous conditions — relationships, the economy and more — raising capital is inherently difficult.
“It is challenging for all entrepreneurs to get the capital they need in the current environment, and this problem is even more acute for women and diverse founders,” says Maggie Brickerman, partner at gener8tor, a venture capital firm and startup accelerator. “Especially at a national level, there is still a dynamic whereby social networks make it easier to get funded, which means only 2% of venture dollars go to women and less than 1% go to founders of color.”
Dr. Guelay Bilen-Rosas, founder of AyrFlo Innovation Labs, Inc., knows the challenge of fundraising firsthand.
“It is very difficult to raise funding; it’s the hardest thing anybody will do. I don’t necessarily believe that it was because of my gender, but it certainly is different because of my gender,” explains Dr. Bilen-Rosas.
Dr. Bilen-Rosas notes that she gets different questions than male founders when pitching potential funders. The questions she receives are more prevention- oriented, meaning they have an undertone of doubt or question the science and theory of her technology as well as her capability to lead a startup. In contrast, promotion-oriented questions focus on the founder’s hopes and achievements.
“Women are asked more prevention questions than their male counterparts, who get asked promotion questions during pitches,” says Dr. Bilen-Rosas. “That is just our reality. It only makes me stronger, and it self-selects people, such as investors and other leaders, who are a good fit for me as a woman-founded and woman-led startup.”
Dr. Bilen-Rosas has raised about $1.4 million for her respiratory monitoring sensor to date, which has primarily come through angel investing. (Typically angel investors invest in a startup’s early stages and are less involved in operations; venture capitalists usually invest in later stages and often take an active role in the company’s operations.) She is just about to begin her first VC-led investment raise for her seed round and knows it will be difficult, yet isn’t giving up hope to find the right investment partners.
Fariba Assadi-Porter, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Isomark Health Inc., has successfully secured venture funding, but needed assistance. She continues to fundraise, noting lack of funding can be a barrier to success.
“As a woman founder, I had to bring in a male colleague to help move forward with venture and private funding,” she says. Isomark has raised $3.5 million for its animal health technology, with about two-thirds from VC.
Changing the data on women’s success in securing funding hinges, in part, on expanding and bringing more diverse voices into the startup space and venture capital space.
“If you can bring more women into the game, playing on equal terms, it’s a win for everyone,” says Sue Wallace, Ph.D., CEO of VOXIMETRY. “The Wisconsin community doesn’t get stronger if it doesn’t bring in and embrace a more diverse set of leaders and founders. We are decreasing our competitiveness if we don’t.”
Winnow Fund’s Martin believes that increasing diversity on the investor side is one of the most effective ways to make change across the board. She works with Heather Wentler, executive director and co-founder of Doyenne Group, a nonprofit that provides professional development, networking and mentoring for women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs, on Doyenne’s Investor Accelerator. This eight-week program introduces participants to the investing process and investor networks.
“The Investor Accelerator came from talking to women who said they would love to become an investor but felt the only options for their personal wealth were philanthropy or investing in the stock market or traditional funds,” says Wentler. “What they felt was holding them back was access to the investor networks and the education that usually goes hand-in-hand with those networks.”
To date, 15 individuals have completed Doyenne’s accelerator program, which is open to all genders. Through the first two cohorts (data from the 2024 cohort is not yet available), 70% of participants had made first-time investments, either directly into companies or through investment funds, and two became decision-makers within VC funds in Wisconsin.
While things are improving, as a 14-year veteran of the space, Wentler continues to have many of the same conversations about the gender gap in funding and founding, but she’s mindful of highlighting the bright spots.
“We are seeing more women sitting on both sides of the table. We are seeing more opportunities. We’re seeing a shift,” says Wentler. “Yet the work is hard, and I don’t feel like the shifts are happening fast enough. And so, it goes back to remembering that we’re not in a sprint — we’re in a marathon.”
And it will happen by making the table larger and inviting more to sit at it.
“I am lucky to have been mentored and given this opportunity,” says Martin. “I feel like I learned all the secrets and now I want to share them with everyone. I love that I get to share this forward.”
What Is Venture Capital?
Venture capital (VC) is funding provided to startups and small businesses with growth potential. A VC fund or firm
raises money from diverse investors, such as individuals and corporations, then invests that money into promising companies. In exchange for their investment, VC funds become part-owners of the company.
Another type of funding available to startups and young companies is angel funding, where an individual, called an angel investor, directly provides capital for a business startup.
Martin explains venture funding is like investing in a mutual fund, where a qualified firm does the homework to vet the investments and spread the risk. Conversely, angel funding is more like directly investing in the stock market, where the investor researches the stocks and it’s their own money on the line.
Doyenne Group’s Investor Accelerator
The next Investor Accelerator will be held in fall 2025. Applications are rolling, and the program costs $750.
The program is open to anyone, and there are no prerequisites or requirements, such as being an accredited investor or having a certain net worth.
Learn more and register at doyennegroup.org/programs/investor-accelerator.
Meet the Companies
- Amulet PBC
CEO: Abigail Barnes
What it is: Amulet is shining a light on invisible threats in the food system with its portable electrochemical sensor system. Allergy Amulet, its consumer line, allows consumers to detect food allergens at the table, and Amulet Scientific, its commercial line, equips food manufacturers with technology to target toxins and contaminants. amulet-inc.com - AyrFlo Innovation Labs, Inc.
Founder & CEO: Dr. Guelay Bilen-Rosas
What it is: AyrFlo seeks to eliminate preventable respiratory complications in patients after surgery by creating a wearable breathing monitoring sensor called SmartAyrpatch. ayrflo.ai - Isomark Health Inc.
Founder & CEO: Fariba Assadi-Porter, Ph.D.
What it is: Isomark’s technology evaluates animal health status in real time by collecting animal breath, which is then analyzed using AI technology to determine the presence of an infection and metabolic disease. isomark.com - VOXIMETRY
CEO: Sue Wallace, Ph.D.
What it is: This health tech software and services company is pioneering patient-specific treatment planning in advanced-stage cancer patients. voximetry.com
Funds and Organizations
- Doyenne Group: doyennegroup.org
- gener8tor: gener8tor.com
- HealthX Ventures: healthxventures.com
- WARF Ventures and WARF UpStart: warf.org/warf-ventures, warf.org/programs-events/upstart
- Winnow Fund: winnowfund.com
