Female-led startup VC firm New Fare Partners closed its first fund in October 2017. The $9 million seed fund was started as a collaboration between writer and consultant Elizabeth Yin and serial entrepreneur Caryl Sohl, with the goal of investing in diverse founders. And more recently, the company has announced that it is partnering with ride-hailing service Lyft to help match potential female entrepreneurs with the services they need.
So far, New Fare has invested in one startup, Philadelphia-based maternity and fertility app Pixie Baby. The funding will provide Pixie Baby with capital to expand its technology platform and grow its team.
Staying true to the company’s mission of supporting female founders, Sohl and Yin had a very specific way of vetting their investment opportunities for their fund: “We will only invest in women that we believe are ‘change agents.’ We’ve learned from experience that being an entrepreneur is hard enough if you put your head down and execute. There’s no room for error when you’re also trying to be a ‘social change agent,’ and we want to invest in people who go after both.”
To find companies that fit its criteria, New Fare works with female founders on a consulting basis before extending an investment. And while the goal is to eventually invest in 20 to 30 companies per year, the company understands that finding enough qualified diverse candidates can be difficult without real-time networking opportunities. That’s why they partnered with Lyft.
“We had a lot of success with Lyft and their first female founders event. We thought it was a great way to build women’s networks across the country, so we reached out and asked if they’d like to partner on our second event,” said Yin. “Lyft was more than happy to, since they’re also looking for opportunities to support women in tech.”
The Lyft-New Fare partnership provided free transportation to and from #SheDrivesTech events in two cities: New York and San Francisco. The San Francisco event was held in conjunction with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, or #SheDrivesTechNYC. Though they took place a month apart, both events focused on the same goal: getting more women into tech.
“What’s great about New Fare is they help us connect to the community and make connections that we wouldn’t be able to make ourselves,” said Colleen Kellogg, founder and CEO of Pixie Baby. “We’ve really benefited from their mentorship and guidance. They are always available to talk.”
The partnership with Lyft was a good fit for New Fare, and Yin and Sohl hope that it benefits startups. “We’re excited to see the results of this collaboration,” said Sohl. “We strongly believe it’s going to create more opportunities for women as we work with them towards building great companies.”
New Fare Partners was founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Yin and Caryl Sohl, with the goal of investing in diverse founders. The firm is based in Palo Alto, California.
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