InvestHER Ventures

The firm's core thesis holds that female founders are systematically under-funded by traditional venture capital and therefore represent a mispriced asset class with higher return potential. InvestHER Ventures targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies where at least one founding team member is a woman, focusing on sectors where network effects and operator experience give the firm an edge in diligence. The partners have publicly stated this is not a diversity concession — it is a returns-driven allocation decision.

Gerri Kahnweiler and Wendy Ryan are the founding partners and lead all investment decisions. Both are former operators who founded and exited companies prior to launching the fund. There is no disclosed investment committee beyond the two founders, suggesting a flat, partnership-driven decision process common to emerging managers.

The firm prefers to lead or co-lead seed rounds, taking board observation rights when it does. This posture gives it influence over cap table construction and follow-on strategy. When it does not lead, it typically joins rounds syndicated by other thesis-aligned seed funds in the Midwest and select coastal networks.

The primary geographic footprint is the Midwest, particularly Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis — markets the partners argue are rich in technical talent and underserved by coastal venture dollars. The firm will invest on the coasts when a deal surfaces through its founder network, but its core sourcing effort stays concentrated in under-ventured US cities.

InvestHER Ventures operates as a venture capital fund manager, not an angel syndicate. It deploys institutional capital through a traditional GP-LP fund structure, though the specific fund size and limited partner composition are not publicly disclosed. The firm's use of the 'Ventures' name confirms it is a pooled fund vehicle rather than a family office or evergreen structure.

The firm has not published an explicit negative sector list, but its public record of investments and partner commentary suggests it stays away from capital-intensive hardware, deep biotech requiring FDA approval, and pure-play consumer packaged goods. The focus remains on asset-light software and platform businesses where the path to revenue does not depend on heavy physical infrastructure.

The firm is active within Chicago's 1871 and mHUB ecosystems, where both partners have been visible as mentors, panelists, and investors. These hubs serve as a proprietary top-of-funnel for deal flow, letting the firm meet founders before formal fundraises begin. This network-dependent sourcing model is central to how InvestHER Ventures competes for allocations against larger, more generic seed funds.