The JumpFund announces $5.2 million raise for its Fund II
Great news for the women-led start-ups that it has invested in or will after yesterday’s announcement from The JumpFund.
The Chattanooga-based entity has raised a second, $5.2 million fund to continue to build on its vision “to make the Southeast the best place for a woman to invest in or grow her business.” Launched in 2013, The JumpFund raised and invested $2.5 million from its first fund in 18 companies.
Yesterday’s announcement (JumpFund II Press Release) noted that its second fund has secured investments from individuals and institutions across the Southeast and as far away as Denver, Seattle and Boston. With additional capital, JumpFund II will be able to continue to highlight the large gap in access to capital for women-led ventures, as well as to increase the number of women as “angel” investors.
We posted this interview with Kristina Montague, Managing Partner of The JumpFund, in early 2015 and an update earlier this year on the progress in raising the second fund. Now, with new dollars, the firm has already made investments from JumpFund II in nine women-led ventures, five of which are follow-on investments in current portfolio companies.
“We are investing in the change we want to see by engaging women’s capital to invest in women-led ventures with a vision to ultimately level the playing field for women building successful, high growth companies,” Montague said in yesterday’s announcement.
While JumpFund I had only women investors, she said that JumpFund II has a “few good men” investing who also see the return potential and market gap for women entrepreneurs.
The JumpFund experienced early success with its investment in Partpic, an Atlanta-based company founded by Jewel Burks that sold to Amazon in 2016. The JumpFund partners with other “gender lens” investors across the U.S., including Golden Seeds and Next Wave Impact Fund.
Invest Atlanta, the City of Atlanta’s economic development authority, is one of those institutions participating in JumpFund II. Eloisa Klementich, the organization’s President and Chief Executive Officer, was quoted in yesterday’s news release about the importance of the new fund.
“For more women-owned businesses to take the leap, they need to have access to the same venture capital opportunities as their male counterparts,” she said. “Too often this hasn’t been the case, which is why we’re working to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs. By partnering with the JumpFund through the Atlanta Seed Equity Initiative, we can help narrow this gap and bring new investment to more women-led ventures in the City of Atlanta.”
