No Longer Overlooked - Issue 30 | Giving Thanks 💞
A newsletter for founders, funders, and friends.
Hi there 👋 Welcome to No Longer Overlooked, a newsletter, curated by me, Janine Sickmeyer, a tech founder turned investor. Follow me as I share startup tips, industry news, founders you should know, and investors putting their money where their mouth is.
What's In This Issue 🗞
A brief look into what you'll be reading about
Holiday gift guide for founders & friends
Opportunities & advice for founders
Founders to keep track of
Exciting news from our sister company, Cobble!
What's On My Mind 💭
I’ve been thinking…
As I clean up the kitchen from our family feast, I am grateful for the time I got to spend with my loved ones who are still with us, and those who have passed, leaving us with empty seats but full hearts.
It's so hard to lose those we love but especially so during a pandemic when we don't give ourselves the capacity to grieve. Instead, we think that we should be thankful for at least not losing everyone and we don't allow ourselves to hurt. But grief is an important part of life. Grieving the loss of people and pets we love that have passed and even the loss of a friendship. We owe it to ourselves to spend time in the memories and honor those who we might never see again, as it's the unexpressed love that we never get to tell them, as Andrew Garfield so eloquently expresses in this recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Andrew says about his mother who just recently passed away, "I hope this grief stays with me because it’s all the unexpressed love I didn’t get to tell her." He continues "We all know somewhere deep down that life is sacred, life is short, and we better just be here as much as possible with each other holding on to each other."
So let's step into the holiday season with gratitude and flexibility to allow ourselves to be whole. To grieve. To love. To give.
What I’ve Been Working On 💁🏻♀️
Things I care about that I want to share
Remember that top-secret project for founders I've been talking about? Well, it's finally time for me to share what I've been working on. Cobble is a founder-first app that makes building a company more accessible with easy-to-understand workflows & tools for crafting a business plan, marketing strategy, financial models, and more. I don't want to give too much away yet. Get your hands on Cobble by joining the waitlist for public beta.
2021 Holiday Gift Guide dropped today in time for Black Friday
Another year, another gift guide to help you survive holiday shopping. I turned to fellow founders and VC people to put together a list of items that people actually want to receive this season. Check out the list for sustainable gift ideas, gifts to encourage self-care and mindfulness, and more!
Overlooked Ventures makes 4 investments
Since starting our $50M fund, we've written checks to four amazing startups and five founders (and there's more on in progress!). We've raised $8.5M from LPs toward the fund. Instead of waiting for at least one-fifth of the fund to be raised, we're doing things differently by deploying capital into startups immediately. Read more about our investments in this Columbus Business First article.
Last month, we had the opportunity to pitch to founders instead of the other way around. The Meet Our Fund event hosted by Insight. You can watch the video recording where Brandon and I present our fund and what we're doing to change VC and put founders first.
I hit 30K followers on Twitter
I can't believe I now have 30K friends on Twitter now. Twitter has always been a space for me to connect with people who challenge me, make me smile, think bigger, and cheer me on! I'm so happy to have each and every follower in my life!
Recently Hit the Stands 📰
Things in the news you should check out
Female-managed US funds outperform all-male rivals
Goldman Sachs released an analysis of 496 large-cap US equity funds to find differences between all-male venture capital teams and those with at least one-third women. Just this year, women-led funds delivered returns of -57 basis points compared with their benchmarks, while all male-run funds performed worse, with average returns of -164bp.
How Black investors are capitalizing on venture capital’s gaps in diversity
Black venture capitalists are bringing a more inclusive approach to the industry by investing in Black founders. It's no surprise that they're performing better than established VCs.
Why diversity and inclusion specialist Chauntelle Lewis’ friends call her the “bounceback queen”
Our Diversity & Inclusive Community Manager Chauntelle Lewis was featured in Creative Lives in Progress. Her resilience and ability to bounce back have played a role in where Chauntelle has gotten today. Currently, Chauntelle is a professional hype-woman and community builder, splitting her time between Hustle Crew and Overlooked Ventures. We are so lucky to have Chauntelle on our team - read more about her in this article!
Atomic Invests Launches with $25M in Funding
David Dini, Co-founder & CEO of Atomic Invest, just announced their public launch with $25M in Series A funding led by QED Investors and Anthemis. Atomic offers Investing as a Service by enabling customers to build wealth.
After a 2020 drop in investments, female-founded start-ups see funding increase in 2021
2020 was a difficult year for women founders navigating a worldwide pandemic and economic setback. According to 2021 All In: Women in the VC Ecosystem report, co-sponsored by Beyond the Billion (BTB) and J.P. Morgan Chase, funding increased for women founders this year by over $15M.
The Black unicorn: Changing the game for inclusivity in retail
Demand for Black brands is rising. Consumers want to shop Black brands, in fact, 68% say that their social values influence purchasing decisions. Younger generations are influencing buyer decisions and are increasing spending on Black-owned brands.
Girls need a lot more than STEM education to become the next generation of women CEOs
While science, technology, engineering, and math are essential subjects, a new kind of STEM education needs to be embraced. Sales, Theater, Entrepreneurship, and Management teach young girls to build their confidence, oratory, and improvisation skills.
Femtech is a subcategory of health technology that is a "range of health software and tech-enabled products that cater to female biological needs." There has been a historical and systemic exclusion of women's health needs in the industry. Femtech is on the rise, despite being previously ignored by VCs.
Millennials and Gen Z are a growing force in investing. The market needs to catch up
Millennials and Gen Z are driving investing to new frontiers, on new platforms, with new priorities. Their investments are helping to shape a better society and a healthier planet.
Investors Offer OpenSea $10B Valuation in New Round: Report
Investors are getting in on the NFT marketplace. OpenSea, the world's first & largest NFT marketplace, is on track to hit $10B in valuation. The platform is seeing explosive growth with over $200 million in trading volume.
Black Investors Can Benefit From The Stock Market As Much As Cryptocurrency For Black Wealth Growth
"44 percent of cryptocurrency traders and 35 percent of stock market investors are people of color." Black investors put their money into cryptocurrency more than other groups in financial products. Black family wealth is lower than the U.S. median white family wealth. To change that Black-led organizations and other companies are providing cryptocurrency education and access.
A Little Birdie Told Me 🐦
Tweet of the moment
Hot Take of the Moment 🔥
Somebody had to say it
Founders You Should Follow 👀
Keep an eye on these founders making moves
Yan Lawrence, The Regime
Yan Lawrence is the founder and CEO of The Regime, an AI-driven beauty platform that matches you to hair products and experiences. All you have to do is answer a few questions about your hair and science will do the rest to provide a unique regime. Yan is also a member of the Female Founder Track by Dorm Room Fund, a data scientist, and Rewriting the code Black Wings cofounder.
Shaun Chavis, LVNGbook
Shaun is Founder of LVNGbook, a company that offers customizable, shoppable cookbooks and habit change journals for chronic conditions. They help people eat to prevent or manage disease in culturally appropriate ways through a combination of technology, nutrition, behavior science, and social connection. LVNGbook also licenses their recipe API to health organizations and other clients.
New Funds Announced 🚀
Renee Montgomery Joins Valor as a GP
WNBA Star Renee Montgomery joined Valor Ventures as a general partner to bring momentum to the fund and an emphasis on being inclusive, leaning into women, and leaning into minorities. Renee is now using her expertise in the sports space to invest in sports tech and the creator economy. Being a GP will also allow her to continue her activism.
Germany's first VC fund backing women founders
Auxxo, led by Gesa Miczaika and Bettine Schmitz, just launched its $15M fund to invest in only women founders. 60% of the fund's LPs are women! The fund will invest in at least 25 pre-seed and seed stage startups across Europe with checks ranging from €100k to 600k.
Founder Tips
What you need to know
Looking for angel groups to pitch to? Here's a thread with a list of Angel Syndicates who are open to contact.
It's important not to mix up vision, strategy, and positioning. April Dunford explained what the difference is between the three and how to approach them.
Women Investors in the News
Lauren Maillian Paves The Way For Black And Latinx Female Founders
CEO of digitalundivided Lauren Maillian is advancing women and women of color founders. Digitalundivided is an incubator for female Black and Latinx entrepreneurs that publishes the ProjectDiane survey on Black and Latinx founders.
How Serena Williams Is Making Massive Social Impact Through Venture Capital
Since 2014, Serene Williams has been investing in companies through her venture firm. The firm has 50 portfolio companies that are mission-driven and 60% diverse founders.
Health Tech Investor Deena Shakir Shares Her Untraditional Career Path
Lux Capital partner Deena Shakir is a well-known health tech investor who came to venture capital after working in government, tech, public service, journalism. She focuses on creating a positive social impact and investing in underdogs.
Before You Go 🚪
What you might have missed.
Take action to make a change to be a true anti-racist
Honeycomb is hiring for backend and front end engineering rolls
Funding for women-led companies lags behind by companies started by men
Pipe is partnering with AngelList to give VCs the ability to advance up.