Babylist, Billions, Broken Series A
Jennifer Hyman’s next move, fresh rounds across AI and biotech, why seed-stage founders are getting stuck, and startup roles to know!
This week, we’re kicking off our first LinkedIn personal branding tip with the least sexy advice ever: just start and stay consistent!!
There are a million tools, hacks, and “growth strategies” out there, but none of them matter if you’re not actually posting enough to learn what works.
I’m relearning right now as I start from scratch with posting short-form video across Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. Very humbling!!!
You wouldn’t expect a six-pack after one Pilates class. Building an audience is the same, you need reps.
So this week, pick one format and post something. One LinkedIn post, one video, whatever feels easiest. We are not chasing mastery yet, ladies!!! We are just simply building the habit.
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Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch, PhD, JD, CEO of Draig Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing neuropsychiatric therapies, raised $65M in Series B funding led by Deep Track Capital, with Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, British Business Bank, and Jefferson Life Sciences also joining.
Leigh Anne Clark, Co-Founder of Auger, an autonomous operating system for supply chain operations, raised $50M in Series B funding led by Eclipse, with Oak HC/FT also participating.
Linda He, Co-Founder of Sable, a company developing AI agents for customer communications, raised $45M in funding co-led by Sequoia Capital and 8VC, with BoxGroup, SV Angel, and Valor Atreides AI Fund also joining.
Lava Sunder and Anne Gifford, Co-Founders of Corner Health, a platform enabling nurse practitioners to start their own primary care practices, raised $32.5M across Seed and Series A funding led by Oak HC/FT, with First Round Capital and Zigg Capital also joining.
Shizu Okusa, Founder & CEO of Apothékary™, a herbal tincture brand positioning its products as alternatives to everyday habits such as caffeine and alcohol, raised $16M through a combination of VC and debt financing from investors including Shiseido’s LIFT Ventures, NextLevel Management, and RSF Social Finance.
Margot Karlikow, PhD, Co-Founder of En Carta Diagnostics, a company developing at-home molecular tests for Lyme disease and sexually transmitted infections, raised €5M through equity and non-dilutive funding led by Blue Forest Ventures and supported by Ring Capital, CentraleSupélec Venture, 50 Partners Health, and Bpifrance.
Arum Kempster, Co-Founder & CEO of EverSettled, a platform helping families navigate estate settlement, raised $5M in Seed funding led by Emergence Capital, with Seedcamp, Bridge Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Transpose Platform, and angel investors also joining.
Holly Hill (She/Her), Co-Founder & CEO of SiftMed, an AI-powered medical claim document review platform, raised $5M CAD in Seed funding led by Staircase Ventures, with The51, Pelorus VC, and Sandpiper Ventures also participating.
Line Kloster Pedersen, Co-Founder & CEO of Visibuilt, a biotechnology startup developing bio-based alternatives to carbon-intensive construction binders, raised €3.34M in Seed funding co-led by Unconventional Ventures and EIFO, with EMDFonden Investering i grønne hjerner and Proptechfonden also joining.
Carron Manning, Co-Founder & CEO of Chiron Health AI, an AI platform supporting patients between clinic visits, raised £900K in Seed funding led by THENA Capital, with Arāya Ventures also participating.
Nadia Neytcheva, Co-Founder & CEO of Doctorsa, a telemedicine platform giving travelers access to healthcare services globally, raised €1M in funding led by PranaVentures, with Vento and 40Jemz Ventures also joining.
Kerli Luks, Founder & CEO of Muun Health, a company developing a wearable device for continuous female hormone monitoring, secured a €700K grant from Enterprise Estonia.
Grace Devlin and Sophie Devlin, Co-Founders of TOSS, a salad dressing brand, closed a Seed round reported at over £500K backed by SFC Capital, Gota Ventures, FIGR Ventures, and angel investors.
Sujata Pawar, Co-Founder & CEO of Avni Wellness, a toxin-free wellness brand focused on women’s health, raised approximately $470K in Seed funding led by Proteus Partners, with angel investors also participating.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reports a concerning women’s health trend: endometrial cancer is rising among younger women. Researchers say lifestyle factors like diet, metabolic health, and stress management may help reduce risk.
Rent the Runway Co-Founder Jennifer Hyman will become CEO of Babylist, succeeding founder Natalie Gordon. It’s a rare founder-to-founder handoff between two women who built major consumer companies.
Jenny Fielding on what she sees as a broken Series A market: strong startups are struggling to raise simply because they are not “AI-native enough.” Her bet is that some of the next breakout companies will come from the overlooked categories investors are ignoring today.
Daniela Amodei, Co-Founder and President of Anthropic, studied literature before helping build one of the world’s most valuable AI companies. Her path is a reminder that the future of AI may reward humanities skills just as much as technical ones.
• Exa (Will Bryk & Jeffrey Wang) – Founding Account Executive, Head of Sales Development, Digital Growth Lead and Forward Deployed Engineering (New York City & San Francisco)
• EverSettled (Arum Kempster) – Open applications across functions for candidates interested in joining the company’s journey (San Francisco)
• Fireworks AI (Lin Qiao) – AI and Machine Learning Engineering, Research, Cloud and Training Infrastructure, Software Engineering, Security, Finance, Recruiting, Field Engineering, Sales, Partnerships, Marketing, Product Management, Developer Relations and Strategic Projects (San Mateo, New York, London, Singapore & Remote U.S.)
• SiftMed (Holly Hill (She/Her)) – Director of Marketing, Growth Marketing, Senior Software Development and DevOps/AWS Engineering (St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador)
• Visibuilt (Line Kloster Pedersen) – Sustainable Materials Engineering focused on polymers and composites, plus freelance advisory work across materials chemistry, additives, bonding, durability and water resistance (Copenhagen & Remote)
• Doctorsa (Nadia Neytcheva) – Remote Primary Care Physicians and Specialists licensed to practice in Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Croatia
• Draig Therapeutics (Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch, PhD, JD) – Associate Director of Clinical Sciences and Associate Director of People & Culture / Senior HR Business Partner (Boston & Greater London)
• Fora Travel (Henley Vazquez) – Engineering, Applied AI, Data, Product, Design, Growth Marketing, SEO/GEO, Sales, Advisor Relations, Events, International Operations, Finance, Payments, Product Operations and Customer Support (Primarily New York City, with select remote and international roles)
• Auger (Leigh Anne Clark) – Research Science, Data Science, Applied Science, Software and AI Engineering, Security, UX, Product Management, Customer Solutions, IT Operations, Business Development and Enterprise Sales (Bellevue & Dallas)
• Sable (Linda He) – AI Research Engineering, Founding Design, Growth, Platform Engineering, Product Engineering and a Founding Account Executive (San Francisco)
• Corner Health (Lava Sunder & Anne Gifford) – Business Operations, Practice Growth, Customer Success, Marketing, Sales, Strategy and Operations, plus an opportunity to design your own role (Santa Monica)
• Rime (Lily Clifford & Brooke Larson) – Software Engineering, ML Serving, Growth Engineering, Product Management, Machine Learning Science, Forward-Deployed Engineering and Founding Sales (San Francisco Bay Area, New York City & Remote U.S.)
• Iswarya Fertility Center (Dr s chandralekha) – Consultant Gynaecologist and Fertility Specialist, Branch Administration, Front Office Operations and Pharmacy (Chennai, Dharmapuri & Tambaram)
• Apothékary™ (Shizu Okusa) – TikTok Shop Affiliate Community Coordination, Part-Time Content Creation and Quality and Compliance (Remote U.S., New York City & Lorton, Virginia)
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I hope you enjoyed this newsletter, Hustlers!
Love,
Daniela