Part 1 of 3: Kerry Rupp and Sara Brand from True Wealth Ventures are funding women-led companies for the greater good

Part one of three Kerry Rupp and Sara Brand from True Wealth Ventures recently sat down with Sol Marketing to discuss their new fund, why women-led businesses are a great investment, and what they’re doing to make sure women-led businesses get the capital they need to grow.

Who is True Wealth for, and why do you do what you do? Kerry Rupp - We are an early stage venture capital fund. This fund raises money from investors, then invests the money into women-led companies. By that, we mean there’s a woman of significant decision-making influence on the executive level of the company. Companies with more women in leadership do better financially, and having gender diverse teams-- with women making 80-85% of the consumer purchasing decisions-- will have inherent advantages when developing products.

Our target is an early-stage company that is high-scale with opportunity to grow quickly and get acquired in a five-year time frame. They fall under the sustainable consumer or health-related business umbrella.

What do you think it says about someone that meets all that criteria and they work with TW and not someone else? KR- Only three percent of all VC-backed deals are woman-led. Given that women are starting companies at 2x the rate of men, there are a lot more woman-led companies than three percent of the market. An entrepreneur that wants to work with True Wealth specifically understands the need to get more growth capital to women and they believe that having a woman’s perspective brings benefits and insights.

Sara Brand–We have two “customers”: those who invest in us and those we invest in. The primary criterion when making an investment is the financial return. There is also a feel-good component-- the social issue of having woman led companies. Our fund also focuses on people that care about social issues such as gender, health, and sustainability. It makes them feel good that they can make money and do good things at the same time.

What is it that your clients get from you that they cannot get from anyone else? What is singular about the experience you deliver? KR – Well, in one sense that is a really easy question to answer. Because in terms of VC funds that are women-led and investing in early stage companies specifically with women decision makers, there are no funds like this in the central United States. They cannot get this anywhere else besides California and New York.

SB - And, actually, if you look at impact investment funds, and we are one because we have the gender focus. We are also investing in sustainable consumer and health verticals. There are no other impact funds that have a specific investment thesis to get more women to the leadership table.

KR – I think that one of the components that women portfolio companies mention is having someone on their investment side that “gets them” and their market better than a traditional VC. Especially when the end customer is a woman. Having a woman at the leadership of those companies and having an investor that gets the decisions that are being made around design, delivery, etc. of those products. The magic is in the diversity, bringing the different perspective to the table considering most companies are led by men.

With all those pieces in place, how do you put that together to make your client the hero in their own story? SB - A lot of our focus is on women and women entrepreneurs: supporting them and their great ideas, scaling them into the market and the world. The number one issue we found is capital. We have seen a lot of organizations focusing on educating women about business plans, etc.– but not a lot of writing checks to scale their business. They need access to the growth capital.

KR - Thinking from an investor’s point of view, thinking about their investment decision, it allows them to “do good and feel good.” Because they are getting a financial return, given the thesis that companies with women in management teams perform significantly better financially. At the same time, they are investing in sectors that are helping the world and affecting social/environmental issues that matter to them.

Check back for parts two and three of our conversation with Kerry Rupp and Sara Brand.