When Michelle Kennedy founded Peanut in 2017, she had one mission: to help women foster meaningful connections. Four years later, her extension of that mission is Peanut StartHER, a micro fund investing in women and underrepresented founders of all ages, life stages, ethnicities and sexual orientations.

StartHER challenges the biases in venture capital and provides access to the elusive ‘friends and family’ round. For many founders, raising money from friends and family isn’t an option because their existing networks don’t have resources to offer such funds. StartHER aims to give everyone a fair chance by re-shaping funding dynamics, providing access to professional networks and ultimately, becoming home to the new faces of entrepreneurship.

If you’re an early stage, pre-seed business that strives to make a positive impact on society, healthcare or the environment, we want to hear from you.

We intrinsically understand the pain points of trying to build a business while building a family. We see the invisible labour undertaken by women every day, we see the motherhood tax, and we see how that impacts women’s development into entrepreneurship

What we’re looking for

  • A mission that has an impact on our society and/or planet;
  • Founders who are underrepresented in the venture capital market;
  • Companies that are pre-seed

How we can help

Funding

Mentorship

Strategic networking

The route to that first cheque is never easy, but with the right help and support from the beginning, we can level the starting line.

Apply today for the opportunity to pitch StartHER’s investment committee, including:

  • Michelle Kennedy, founder & CEO of Peanut;
  • Bérénice Magistretti, Femtech journalist and angel investor;
  • Anu Duggal: Founding Partner of Female Founders Fund;
  • Vanessa Kingori MBE, Chief Business Officer, Conde Nast Britain;
  • Shilpa Yarlagadda, Founder of Shiffon Co. and Startup Girl Foundation;
  • Elizabeth Uviebinene, Author, Columnist and Speaker.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.