Ankita Vashishta, a venture capital investor, entrepreneur who is best known as founder of first women entrepreneurship VC funds - Saha Fund and StrongHer Ventures, is launching a $1 billion venture capital fund to support 1,000 women-led or women-focused start-ups in India and overseas in the next 5-years, reported The Hindu.
StrongHer Ventures has floated a $100 million venture fund for funding women startups. The VC firm will then launch another $350 million fund next year, while four more funds will be ready for launches in a phased manner thereafter.
The fund will invest in women-led or women-focussed startups in fintech, future of work, healthcare, consumer, and Web 3.0 that comprises crypto (NXT), metaverse, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.
Citing Ankita, the report further said that the new funds will cover women entrepreneurs across Europe, Latin America, MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) regions - mostly untapped markets from where a lot of women are beginning to participate in businesses
In a statement to The Hindu, Ankita Vashistha, said -"We will be a billion-dollar venture fund platform in the next five years, the largest in the world for women. Our plan is to launch at least five more venture funds focused on diverse domains to support the growth of the female economy in multiple geographies."
Saha Fund has invested in women-led startups of varied domains including Fitternity - a fitness discovery and booking platform, which got acquired by Cure.fit; GoCoop - a global handloom/Handicraft online marketplace; Shoptimize and My Ally, which was acquired by HR tech company Phenom People.
Post the success of Saha Fund, StrongHer Ventures is the second global women-focused tech fund launched by Ankita Vashistha, investing in women led/focused technology companies. StrongHer focuses on pre-seed and early stage tech-driven companies in the areas of fintech, future of work, healthcare and consumer.