LOS ANGELES — Amboy Street Ventures has announced that it has closed its debut $20 million fund, which it says will be invested in the Seed and Series A stages of women’s health and sexual health startups.
The venture capital firm is focused on women's health and sexual health for all genders, and stated that its mission is “to both lift associated stigmas and usher forward a new world of inclusive health and well-being.”
Issues such as menopause support, male contraceptives, abortion access and LGBTQ+ health, a rep noted, “are being solved by cutting-edge, socially-conscious and fast-growing startups that Amboy Street aims to support. Amboy Street is a women-powered fund as it is led by an all-female leadership team and the majority of the investments will be made into women-led companies.”
Founding partner Carli Sapir explained that the women’s health and sexual wellness space “is a trillion-dollar market opportunity. The lack of historical investment in these industries — less than .5% — has stunted the innovation needed to address women’s health and sexual health issues. Our goal is to back innovative startups that are filling major market gaps and improving the health and well-being of people around the world.”
Amboy Street was founded by investor and former engineer Carli Sapir and is supported by general partners Dominique Karetsos and Dr. Maria Godoy. Amboy Street has already invested in eight startups and realized its first exit as Gennev, a telehealth and product line for menopausal women, was acquired by Unified Women’s Healthcare. Other startups in the portfolio include Evvy, Hey Jane, Contraline, Dame Products, HerMD, Aunt Flow and Dipsea.
Amboy Street, the rep noted, is “backed by predominantly female limited partners who are driving the world's leading financial institutions: over 10 partners and directors from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bank of America; founders of prominent funds, including Summit Partners and First Round Capital; senior executives at top hedge funds and private equity funds including Fortress Investment Group and Citadel; other founders; and Planned Parenthood executives.”
“The decision to invest in Amboy Street was an easy one for me,” said Colleen Foster, former Goldman Sachs partner, and treasurer of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The economics of investing in women and their health care from puberty to post-menopause produce outsized returns. Our founders are solving problems that a century of underinvestment has ignored. Not only do I feel a moral imperative to drive capital to underserved communities and businesses, I also strongly believe that gender equity won’t be achieved in my lifetime without it.”
Foster said that she knew from their first meeting that Sapir was the investor she wanted to back.
“I was impressed with her market analysis, underwriting criteria, founder selection and the personal brand she had built in a short period of time,” Foster concluded.
For more information, visit AmboyStreet.vc.
