Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

In September, we shared that a new initiative designed to bring more women into the region’s venture capital ecosystem was coming to town. Now, the cork has officially popped.

The Champagne Fund, a women-centric venture investment and networking opportunity launched in partnership with Market Square Ventures (MSV), celebrated its debut Thursday at the 121 Tech Hub. The room was filled to the brim with women, supporters and champagne.

“Each one of you are here because you’re invited by a woman, or because a woman made you,” Savannah Mosier joked as she opened the evening.

Mosier, a Knoxville commercial broker, is the instigator of the initiative and MSV acts as the infrastructure. Together, their goals are to educate women about venture capital, build a supportive network of women wanting to be more involved in the area’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and create opportunities to support promising Tennessee startups.

The fund’s namesake

Joking aside, Mosier thanked the crowd for showing up and shared the story behind the fund’s name.

It traces back to the 1800s and Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, who was widowed at 27 and took over her late husband’s champagne business. That house is behind today’s famous yellow label, Veuve Clicquot.

“To me, it’s a really prominent story to share because it was a woman who made the brand what it is today. She is the one that refined champagne into the clear bubbles that we all drink and love these days,” Mosier explained.

“Previously, it was a very sugary, thick concoction of wine and over fermentation. This new way was discovered because it lived through too many hard winter seasons, and I know a lot of women in this room who have also lived through a lot of hard winter seasons. Right? They’ve been over fermented, they’ve been put under pressure, and they were built out of the things that probably should have broken them, which is why we’re here today.”

The idea took shape this spring, when Mosier sat on a panel during a women’s capital series.

“I watched these women entrepreneurs pitch. I saw their nervousness, but I also saw their fire inside of them” she said. “I met with Brandon Bruce and John Bruck of MSV for lunch, and I said, ‘I would like to do this. Why do we not do this here? It exists in Nashville really heavily. It exists in Chattanooga already. Why is there not an opportunity for women to do this in Knoxville yet?’”

“We chatted and the more I examined it, the more I understood that the bar was too high for the everyday woman. How do you get the foot in the door? And so that’s how Champagne Fund came to be. I want to create a table for women to feel comfortable to ask the hard questions, to learn about venture capital, to get their foot in the door.”

As the launch celebration was coming to a close, Mosier admitted she was supposed to walk the crowd through how the investment works, but she had a different priority for the night.

“To be honest, I don’t think that’s the important part here tonight,” she said. “I think the important part is that you understand who I am as a person and the door that I’m trying to open for other women.”

How it works

But for those still curious about the fine print:

• The investment minimum is $10,000. Mosier said that’s lower than typical buy-ins for similar groups, which keeps the fund more inclusive and accessible. The investment can come from an individual or from a business sponsoring a woman in its organization. Members will gather throughout the year.
• MSV will manage the investment vehicle and evaluate potential investments through its established diligence and investment process.
• Additional, open networking and educational programming will introduce a broader group of women to topics like startup investing, venture capital, entrepreneurship and the growth of Knoxville’s innovation economy outside of the membership.
  • Open monthly coffee meetings are already on the calendar for the third Wednesday of each month in 2027: Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21, May 19, June 16, July 21, Aug. 18, Sept. 15, Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15.

“If you have the means, great. If you don’t but still want to be involved, come talk to me because I still want you to have a seat at my table,” Mosier said. “There’s so many ways we can support each other. It costs nothing to say my name in a room that I’m not in. It costs nothing to support other women in a room they aren’t in.”

Glasses up

Naturally, the evening ended with a toast and Mosier used the glass itself to sum up what the fund is about.

“I don’t want to think about the glass being half empty or half full because the glass is refillable,” Mosier said. “The glass can always be refilled. The glass can be a different shape, but the glasses are filled for everybody. I toast to the women who open doors, and to those who offer a seat at the table, the entrepreneurs willing to start at rock bottom, the women willing to invest in what’s next.”

To learn more and get involved, email Savannah Mosier.

 

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