The Female Founders in my Atomico Angel 2020 Portfolio
In this blog, I wanted to highlight the female founders that I invested in in 2020, the incredible work they are doing and most importantly the real women behind the scenes. Strong and diverse women from Ireland to Afghanistan, they are building businesses that make the world a better place, while trying to solve large problems with underserved consumers.
Building companies in healthcare to the future of work, gaming to sexual wellness, I could not be more privileged than to play a small part in their journey. In no particular order, introducing my Atomico Angel 2020 portfolio.
Excluded from the blog are three other companies that I have invested in but they are yet to be announced (all three in digital health!). For those who know me and my love for women’s health, I am now definitely overweight in this category 😊.
A big thank you to the many, many female founders that I met and who took the time to tell me their stories. As an investor, I can never know as much as you and thank you for spending the time to educate me enough to get to a decision!
Special mentions to Mridula Pore @ Peppy Health and Leonie Riviere @ Fina. I will be eagerly watching your progress, amongst the progress of many others who I have failed to mention but I am keen to keep in touch with. For the many others I am yet to meet, please feel to continue reaching me directly on email.
I would also like to say that none of this would have been possible without Sophia Bendz who invited me into the Atomico Angel program and without the support of the whole Atomico team. A BIG thank you to them!
In no particular order, here they are:
- Shellworks, creating a new category of materials that behaves like plastic but degrades in a natural environment.
Building Shellworks with co-founders Amir Afshar and Ed Jones, Insiya Jafferjee, at age ten, was probably already doing too much for a child her age. Originally from Sri Lanka, she had her toes in everything from chess to tap dancing to swimming, but it was her very first introduction to learning multiple skills and becoming an expert in different domains. She never really wanted to start a company but when she began working on a plastic problem with her co-founders during their joint masters at Imperial and RCA, she couldn’t imagine doing anything but that. Driven by three core things, the mission, the team and the ability to do what she loves while making impact, her role model is her dad. He taught her that if you focus on doing what you are passionate about, the rest is sure to follow (something my Dad also used to say to me all the time). When she makes her millions, she plans to share them with others aspiring to make a meaningful impact. Her favorite read is on the notorious R.B.G and finds her super inspiring for the determination and dedication to her work and cause.
How we met?
Zoom/IRL: Zoom through a cold message that Insiya sent me on Linkedin.
During our first chat, I remember Insiya had done her research on me, what I like to invest in and mentioned another sustainable materials company I had invested in.
I was tired of throwing away so much packaging in the bin and loved that she had reached out to me cold. I look forward to one day being able to proudly say — ‘Cold is Gold’!
What Diversity means to her: ‘Diversity is our strength’
2. Flown, deep work spaces for knowledge workers
Alicia Navarro, originally from Australia describes herself, a geeky dreamer, as a child. Currently living with an odd little Schnautese called Lumi , she decided to become a “business woman” at the tender age of 10. Driven by the want to create meaningful things with people she cares for and with people she cares for, Alicia has now created Flown. A second time entrepreneur who only recently sold her last business and treated herself to a Tesla and a ring and gifts for people who helped her along the way. Her favorite podcast is “Stuff you should know”.
How we met:
Zoom/IRL: Zoom through Alma Angels
I invested off of a pitch deck and invested in Alicia. This was also the first ever investment where a number of Alma Angels invested under a POA structure in Flown.
What Diversity means to her: “Diversity is about having different ways of thinking involved in key decisions”
3. Sidequest, a community driven VR content platform that helps developers with essential discovery and feedback for apps that are in development.
Orla Harris started Sidequest with co-founder and husband Shane Harris. Originally from Ireland and at age 10, super independent, ambitious and competitive, a dedicated cub scout and not so dedicated violinist. Currently living with two dogs — ‘Missus’ the PatterDale Terrier and ‘JJ’ the Shitzu, she always worked for entrepreneurs until it felt like the right time to have her own baby (for want of a better word!). Thus was borne Sidequest to solve a problem for Shane and for other developers. And they invested all their savings in it. She is driven by the desire for the financial comfort that gives her the space to feel grounded, but also the freedom to be creative, take a walk and spend time with family. With her millions when she makes them — she will live a little and help the people she loves a little, ultimately retiring in Spain! Favorite book, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie.
How we met:
Zoom/IRL: Zoom through my dear friend Carmen Alfonso Rico
I was blown away by the organic traction they had achieved!
What Diversity means to her: “Diversity is the freedom to tell your story without fear of judgment or persecution because of your sex, race, physical or mental ability, politics, religion or who you choose to love.”
4. Sano Genetics, a platform that connects people with research to power the future of personalised medicine.
Charlotte Guzzo started Sano with co-founders Patrick Short and William Jones. Charlotte Guzzo, originally from France, describes herself as dreamy, serious and book obsessed little kid who lived in a world of pure imagination. She travelled through magical kingdoms in her mind and wanted to become a writer or movie director. Now, mother to a little boy Oscar who was born in between the two funding rounds of Sano, Charlotte feels that seeing the world through his eyes has put everything in perspective for her. On work-life as a mother, she says her co-founders and her have created a work culture that puts flexibility and accountability at its core and thinks it has been very beneficial for the team — any one of them can step out for a bit and the company keeps running. A hyper curious child, Charlotte drove her mother crazy with her ‘why’s’ which continued into later life with ‘because I told you so’ as the response. She found it far satisfying in trying to answer the questions herself rather than the answers she was getting, which led her into scientific research and then into entrepreneurship. Driven by making impact, her role model is Kypros Nicolaides, one of the early pioneers of fetal medicine, a fighter for women’s health. When Charlotte makes her millions she will go back to pursue a PhD in precision medicine and travel the world with her husband and son. Favorite reads are by Jonathan Franzen and Milan Kundera.
How we met?
Zoom/IRL: Zoom through my friend Maren Bannon
My father was a micro-biologist and I grew up in his lab — when I wasn’t in his lab at his office, I was at the lab he had created for me at home! My love affair with digital health was sealed firmly with this investment.
What Diversity means to her: “Diversity is where stagnation ends, and growth begins.”
4. Kama Labs, an educational platform for sexual pleasure
Co-founder, Chloe Macintosh, originally from France, as a child, spent a lot of time alone, her hobbies being simply observing nature or drawing and building things with her hands. Passionate about wildlife she wanted to become a naturalist. A mother to two teenage boys 13 and 5, Elliott and Felix, entrepreneurship for her is an attitude. Her foray into entrepreneurship began when she co-founded Made.com in 2010. She is now back with a more mission driven focus and launched Kama Labs. Driven by the want to build brands that can shift cultures and mindsets towards a better and more connected life experience, she believes that pain is a result of humans losing their connection to their true selves/nature. Therefore, she wants to build something that can truly help us feel more connected and in harmony with ourselves and our environment. Her role model is nature and when she makes her millions she would like to move out of the city and build a home closer to nature. She would like to ensure that sexual pleasure is an integral part of medical research, education and advocacy in all parts of the world. Her favorite podcast is Sam Harris’ — Home of the Making Sense!
How we met?
IRL at Starbucks! The first and only investment I made during COVID where I met the founder in real life in 2020.
No form of sex-ed existed when I was growing up in India and everything Chloe said to me in that first meeting resonated with me so much. My favorite Chloe line was — ‘Sex is the only thing you are expected to be good at without practicing!’ I was sold there and then.
What Diversity means to her: ‘Diversity is…..when individuality is fully expressed. Unity expressed in diversity.’
5. Juno Bio is a women’s health company decoding the vaginal microbiome which effects everything from recurrent infections through to infertility and pre-term birth. Juno produces the only comprehensive vaginal microbiome screening test that gives women and all people with vaginas the answers they need while powering up discovery to raise the standard of care.
Hana Janebdar, and co-founder Leighton Turner, started Juno Bio. Originally from Afghanistan, as a child, Hana was a big reader, always trying to carve out some alone time from the chaos of coming from a big family. She loved to read everything she could get a hold of: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, newspapers, you name it, she was reading it all. Intellectually super curios, she would deep dive obsessively into everything from plants, to baskets and try to recreate potions. While doing her masters and considering a PhD it became clear to her that the fastest, most impactful way of seeing the change that she wanted in the world was through a startup rather than academia. Driven by her personal view of the world she is trying to solve the massive inequality which is growing even faster everyday, enabled by current day tech and workforces. At Juno Bio, she wants to make sure that both tech (machine learning and next generation sequencing) and the smartest minds are funneled into solving the huge gender health gap and to reduce this massively under-addressed inequality. Her role models are people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, unrelenting in their efforts to make the world a tangibly better place. She plans to reinvest her millions, when she makes them, into her next mission. Currently reading Frantz Fanon’s ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, she likes reading things that reframe her current way of thinking.
How we met?
IRL/Zoom: I had met Hana once in IRL in 2019. I was re-introduced to her on Zoom through my friend Matt Penneycard.
What Diversity means to her: ‘Diversity is nothing without inclusion’
Note: Part 2 of portfolio to follow.
