LOS ANGELES, March 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amboy Street Ventures, the world’s first venture capital firm focused on women’s health and sexual health for all genders, closed its debut $20 million fund. With this new fund, Amboy Street will invest in the Seed and Series A stages of women’s health and sexual health startups to both lift associated stigmas and usher forward a new world of inclusive health and wellbeing.
These centuries-long issues, such as menopause support, male contraceptives, abortion access, and LGBTQIA+ health, 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.
“The women’s health and sexual wellness space is a trillion-dollar market opportunity,” said Founding Partner Carli Sapir. “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 wellbeing 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, leaders in the women’s and sexual health industry. 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 that are pushing the industry forward include:
- Evvy – vaginal microbiome testing and care
- Hey Jane – telehealth abortion access
- Contraline – male birth control
- Dame Products – female-focused sexual pleasure products
- HerMD – telehealth and brick-and-mortar menopause and sexual health services
- Aunt Flow – free menstrual products for more than 19,000 bathrooms nationwide
- Dipsea – audio erotica subscription app
“Amboy Street’s hands-on approach helped us gain access to the resources, tools and partners we needed,” said Alexandra Fine, CEO of Dame Products. “They believed in our vision with conviction, and we are proud to be included in this new fund.”
Amboy Street is backed by predominantly female Limited Partners who are driving the world’s leading financial institutions: 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; Successful 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 healthcare 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. I knew from my first meeting with Carli Sapir that she was the investor I 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.”
Amboy Street Ventures
Amboy Street Ventures is the world’s first investment firm dedicated to the growth of women’s health & sexual health startups. Amboy Street invests in Seed and Series A stages of startups that are creating the vital technology that meets the sexual health and women’s health needs of our progressive society. The Amboy Street team has a combined five decades of experience supporting high-growth companies and prides itself on adding value above and beyond capital. Their Value Enhancement Team supports portfolio companies with marketing & branding, sales & distribution, product development & scientific innovation and public education resources through its position within the Healthy Pleasure Group, an ecosystem dedicated to solving the problems that startups face in the Sexual Health and Women’s Health Tech market. To learn more, please visit https://amboystreet.vc.
