wendy mcgowan ellis [Photo: Cassandra Capital]
While women-founded businesses have recently attracted venture funding in North Texas, the rate remains low nationally. Sensing an opportunity to push the numbers up, serial entrepreneur Wendy McGowan-Ellis founded a Frisco-based venture capital firm, initially focusing on the Dallas-Ft. We plan to invest in some of the companies that will value.
The first fund from new VC firm Cassandra Capital LLC is a “rolling fund of funds” that aims to raise $20 million, said McGowan Ellis, Cassandra's CEO. His 80% of the money raised by Cass Cap Fund I LP is from his four other women-owned ventures: Her The Artemis Fund in Houston, Chicago/Los Angeles-based Supply Chain Capital, Portfolia and Chloe Capital. will be invested in. The head office is in New York.
“I chose these four companies because their funds are currently open, they invest in women-led companies, and each targets different industries and markets,” McGowan said. Ellis says.
The remaining 20% raised in Cass Cap Fund I will be invested in women-owned and led companies with initial revenue, scaling, and growth stages through convertible notes that provide non-dilutive capital. McGowan-Ellis said. She is particularly interested in investing in companies in areas such as health and wellness, smart homes and cities, clean energy, fintech, media, robotics, sustainable beauty and fashion.
U.S. startups with all-female teams won just 1.9% of the roughly $238 billion in venture capital allocated last year, down from 2.4% in 2021, according to Pitchbook. In Dallas-Fort Worth, women-founded startups received $293 million in 35 deals in 2022, according to Pitchbook. The previous year, they raised $973 million across 36 deals, far more than the sub-$100 million raised typically seen over the past 12 years.
[Image: Cassandra Capital]
'I need it'
McGowan-Ellis said Cassandra is filling the void for a female-led VC investing in women in North Texas left by the closure of the Dallas-based Texas Women Ventures family of funds. Stated. “The fact that that fund is gone leaves us with no women-led venture organizations that were investing in women in North Texas,” she says.
Founded in 2005, Texas Women Ventures has invested more than $25 million in women-owned or led businesses in Texas and the Southwest, according to its website. Valerie Freeman, CEO of BravoTECH and Freeman+Leonard, and one of TWV's four founders, said the private equity firm has seen its third fund deliver disappointing results. It then closed “about three years ago,” he said.
McGowan-Ellis, a management consultant and founder of businesses such as LifestyleFrisco.com and Wendistry.com, believes his background as an “executive turned investor” will help Cassandra succeed.
“I really understand what it’s like to be a female business owner looking to grow and expand,” she says. “We women traditionally max out our credit cards, go see friends and family, think about SBA loans. We're not thinking about raising money. We're building a business. So that's not the first thing to worry about.
“Part of my mission at Cassandra Capital is to not only invest directly in these women and their businesses, but also to encourage new investors who are women, accredited women with high net worth, to invest in VCs. “It's also about teaching people about entry and becoming a limited partner, so they can access these alternative investments to enrich their portfolio and create wealth for themselves,” she added.
Freeman, co-founder of TWV, says the launch of McGowan Ellis' VC firm is welcome news. “If she can raise money for women-owned businesses, good for her, because we need that,” Freeman said.
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