Investing in Diversity: Lorine Pendleton

Angel investor Lorine Pendleton is working to address cultural blind spots in investment and entrepreneurship. She invests and raises capital for a variety of under-served communities -- such as veterans, LGBTQ people, women and people of color. Her goal is investing in change. Watch this BlackRock 60 Seconds Docs: Wealth video.

Forbes: Meet the Women Investors Supporting Early Women's Health Innovators

"Trish Costello, Portfolia, Making A Bet On Women’s Health The Portfolia FemTech Fund focuses on emerging technologies, products and services improving women’s health throughout their lives. Portfolia is making strategic investments in high-potential opportunities that are both profitable and increase women’s wellbeing.

Trish Costello, CEO of Portfolia, is incredibly motivated to make a difference in this field: “It’s a huge market (50B dollar) with many gaps and unmet needs. It’s a great opportunity to make money, and very few VCs are investing. Also, I want to invest in what I understand from my experience and that I know will improve my life and that of other women.”

Costello finds the menopause, pregnancy and childbirth spaces very interesting, as well as specific healthcare areas where women are impacted differently such as heart disease or pain management, and tends to stay away from the heavily invested areas, such as period tracking apps, most of which originally were founded and run by men.

Women are dying during labor, we have incredibly high C-section rates. There are huge opportunities for innovation addressing early detection of pre-clampsia, avoiding stress and postpartum depression, among other issues. In menopause, I’m excited about companies tackling everything from bladder issues to vaginal rejuvenation,” says Costello.

Costello insists that the biggest problem for femtech founders is that 94% of active capital is controlled by men: “They don’t always connect to the issues, and knowing the field is key as an investor. We need more women investors. As a founder, you should know the financial model behind your solution, find the right advisors, and approach investors with a track record in the space -don’t waste time with those that never invested in women or the space.”

The modern VC industry was developed at a time when women couldn’t even take out loans on their own. Portfolia is deconstructing how it works and defining what it could look like if it was designed today."

"For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep introductory calls or simply begin by signing up here. "

You can also read the full article here.

xconomy: To Help Boost Female-led Startups, More Women Join Investor Ranks

Portfolia was recently featured in an article by xconomy on how women are taking matters into own hands to leverage their capital and networks to back the products and entrepreneurial teams that they want in their marketplace.

Xconomy notes "Costello founded Portfolia six years ago, after 17 years at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where she founded its well-known Fellows program. “We’re deconstructing how venture capital works,” she says, noting that the modern VC industry was developed at a time when women couldn’t even take out loans on their own. “If we could organize it today, what would it look like?”

Portfolia operates like a micro-VC and has six funds; examples include “femtech” and active aging. Women can choose a fund to join with a minimum $10,000 check to invest. While more experienced women investors run the funds, the other investors are encouraged to actively participate in pitches and investment discussions."

For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep introductory calls or simply begin by signing up here.

You can also read the full article here.

Portfolia in Allure

"‪Thank you Allure Magazine for featuring Portfolia in your #femtech article. “The truth is the vast majority of investors, even in healthcare are men,” says Trish Costello, CEO and founder of Portfolia." We are here to change that!! The more women investors we can activate, the more women’s health solutions will make their way to the marketplace.

For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep introductory calls or simply begin by signing up here.

First Step Venture Partner Angela Jackson in Portland Tribune

Investment fund Portfolia announced it has added Angela Jackson of the Portland Seed Fund as a venture partner for its new fund called the FirstStep Fund.

Jackson will continue working with the Portland Seed Fund but will bring her expertise, along with four other partners spread across the country, to finding startups with a female angle: companies either founded or run by women or producing a product or service of particular interest to women.

Portfolia Inc. CEO and Founder Trish Costello came to Portland Wednesday from San Francisco host get together with Jackson and prospective investors and entrepreneurs. Twenty-three people, seven off them men, met in the boardroom of local angel investors Stephanie Kelly and Jason Saunders in the Brewery Blocks. Jackson introduced them as "friends of the ecosystem."

For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep introductory calls or simply begin by signing up here.

You can also read the full article here.

Forbes: How To Avoid The Three Worst Blunders Entrepreneurs Make In Pitching Investors

Portfolia was recently featured in an article by Forbes on mistakes that entrepreneurs make when pitching investors. The article highlights the challenges that women-led companies, in particular, face when seeking funding.

Forbes says, "There are a few bright spots. More women are becoming angel investors, and there are more and more angel groups, syndicates, and other investment consortia [like] Portfolia...that are focused on funding women-led businesses."

For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep introductory calls or simply begin by signing up here.

You can also read the full article here.

Women 2.0 Says Portfolia Easily Allows You to Invest in Line with Your Personal Values

We are pleased to be included in a roundup of investing solutions that allow you to invest in opportunities that align with your values. According to Women 2.0, you can achieve social impact and financial returns by taking advantage of investment models that help you support the companies you want to see in your marketplace.

In their recent article, Women 2.0 says:

After selecting an industry focus such as SaaS, Organics, or FemTech, the Portfolia team diversifies your investment across ten high-potential, entrepreneurial companies. For accredited investors, this provides an uncommon amount of diversification in startups and young companies that is otherwise difficult to achieve. Portfolia is not only driven to increase the number of female angel investors, but their most recent industry-focused fund, the FemTech Fund, focuses on emerging technologies, products and services improving women’s health and wellness throughout their lives.

For more information on how you can make markets by investing in the companies, products and solutions you believe in, read more about Portfolia’s FirstStep Fund or sign up to attend one our upcoming FirstStep Fund introductory calls.

FastCompany Features 3 Portfolia Companies

Portfolia backs high opportunity companies with the right teams, the right products, at the right time for the most optimal returns. Thank you Fast Company for featuring 3 of our portfolio companies in your article on 'The most promising health and wellness trends for 2019'.

MedTech Strategist: Portfolia’s FemTech Fund Activates a New Source of Investors

We are thrilled to be featured in MedTech Strategist in their Venture Capital Section on how Portfolia is activating a new source of investors.

“In focusing on underfunded sectors, particularly women’s health, Portfolia does have the opportunity to shape the healthcare landscape for women by helping innovative companies get the funding they need to get to market.“

Read the article here.

2GO: Health Science, Angels, and Earthly Talent

“For context, innovation in the health sciences happens everywhere. Yet, a distinct gap sits before our eyes. Investment firms avoid funding solutions to female health care issues. Run predominantly by men, the firms are ‘uncomfortable’ addressing such issues, even when they are likely to make exceptional returns on their investment.

“…A movement is happening to address this. Bands of women angel investment organizations are floating to help…Among these, Portfolia’s angels are most on a mission.

“Portfolia’s angel network aims to funnel more than $1 billion into start-ups addressing women’s health issues by 2020. They plan to solve this gap by engaging at least 100,000 women investors. The aim is to invite affluent women to consider investing in start-ups that address relevant issues about which they care. More importantly, Trish Costello, founder and CEO of the investing platform Portfolia has a holistic plan. She understands women new to investing need to learn how to do well at it. Drawing from her leadership of the Kauffman Fellows career development program for venture capital investors for more than a decade, she created a method that teaches investors while investing wisely. Out goes the traditional angel network in which investors make their own decisions about pitches and write their own checks. Portfolia operates more as a micro-VC. Investors can join a fund with as little as $10,000. Each fund is lead by a small group of seasoned investors who manage deal flow and conduct the due diligence while teaching the investors during the process. Novices and veterans collaborate: angels teach angels.”

Read the full article here.

Forbes: You, Too, Can Invest Like Melinda Gates

"Melinda Gates has been making headlines by investing in female-founded venture capital firms. She’s addressing the lack of money for female founders by putting her money where her mouth is. If you’re an accredited investor, you can, too.

Venture funds with women as decision-making partners are far more likely to invest in women-led companies, and businesses founded by women delivered higher revenue — more than twice as much per dollar invested — than those founded by men, making women-owned companies better investments for financial backers. Portfolia funds provide diversification and have six noteworthy features...." 

Read on to find out what our secret sauce is and how you too can invest smartly (like Melinda Gates).