Community Op-ed: The Future of Women’s Rights and Health

By: BlackEnterprise Editors |   January 13, 2023 

Cake Ventures, a pre-seed and seed venture capital firm, today announced its debut fund ($17 million) backed by prominent investors including Pivotal Ventures (a Melinda French Gates company), Cendana Ventures, Screendoor, Plexo Capital, Foundry Group, and Bank of America.

Founded by Monique Woodard, Cake Ventures is one of the few venture capital firms with an investment thesis focused on demographic change for consumers, including published research that surfaces a new way of thinking about what comes next in technology, according to a press release.

Cake Ventures is focused on identifying companies that address the consumer and enterprise needs of three key markets: 

• The aging population – whose size and spending power has created unique needs across categories like care and aging in place, preventative health, and late-life financial services.
• The billion dollar female economy – driven by the increased spending power of women in which companies with a significant female user base will return billions of dollars across categories like direct-to- consumer, women’s health, and the many ways women save, spend, and invest money.
• The shift to majority-minority – where Asian, Black, and Latino people become the majority in the United States and represent the changing technology consumption habits and direct influence on internet culture, which in turn impacts social connections, financial empowerment, and the future of work.

Monique is an experienced venture and angel investor, entrepreneur and operator. She began her venture investing career as a Venture Partner at 500 Global, and invested in early stage companies like Silvernest and Blavity. Following her time at 500 Global, Monique was a Venture Scout at Lightspeed Venture Partners. She also became a trusted advisor to foundations interested in increasing capital allocation to diverse fund managers and entrepreneurs. At venture capital firms like SoftBank she is an Advisor on Emerge, its early stage pipeline program focused on companies led by underrepresented entrepreneurs. All of this work has led to a wealth of knowledge and experience recognizing the demographic changes and the potential that will change the technology landscape.

“All the work in my career has led me to this point,” said Monique Woodard, Founder and Managing Director of Cake Ventures, “I see a massive opportunity to invest in venture-scale technology companies that impact the lives of the millions of people who make up tomorrow’s internet users. Revolutionary technology is already being created in this space, and I want to back the founders creating generational technology companies whose growth will be accelerated by these emerging consumers.”

Women have been underrepresented in the financial opportunity created by venture capital – both as equity holders on cap tables and as limited partners at venture funds. With an eye toward increasing equity in its LP base, over 25% of LP capital was allocated to female LPs in this fund, many of whom are women of color. Similarly, the makeup of the Cake Ventures portfolio reflects its commitment to founder diversity. To date, 40% of Cake’s initial investments have a female founder/CEO and 40% of its investments have a Black founder/CEO.

“We know that having more women, especially women of color, in leadership roles in VC will unlock greater returns. With Monique’s diversity-first mindset and extensive track record as an early-stage capital partner to entrepreneurs, Cake Ventures is poised to be a leader in evolving the tech industry, and we are thrilled to be investors in the fund,” said Erin Harkless Moore, Director of Investments at Pivotal Ventures.

“We were thrilled to be one of Cake’s first investments,” said Jessica McGlory, Founder and CEO of Guaranteed. “Monique is a one of a kind investor who understands the importance of the shifting needs of the aging demographic and we appreciate her guidance and support. She is playing a critical role as we scale and grow our business.”

“We are excited to partner with Cake Ventures because they are pursuing investments in the areas that are undergoing a lasting sea change driven by inevitable demographic changes”, said Michael Kim, founder of Cendana Capital.  “Monique is uniquely positioned to access great founders in these critical spaces.”

 To learn more about Cake Ventures, visit www.cake.vc. 

https://www.blackenterprise.com/cake-ventures-founded-by-monique-woodard-debuts-first-fund/

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several programs to help businesses recover from effects of COVID-19, including:

• Economic Injury Disaster Loans
• SBA debt relief (for existing SBA borrowers)

If you're unable to qualify for conventional financing and you meet the eligibility requirements, use a 7(a) loan to buy real estate, equipment or inventory for your small business. The loan may also be used for working capital, to refinance business debt, or purchase a small business. Find an SBA lender in your area by using the Lender Match tool.

For those who cannot find traditional financing but would like to purchase/renovate real estate or buy heavy equipment for a small business. The loan provides competitive fixed-rate mortgage financing through a lender and a Certified Development Company (CDC). For more information, or to inquire about loan application requirements, contact your local CDC, which you can find using the Local Assistance tool.

Eligible businesses can start up and grow with working capital or funds for supplies, equipment, furniture and fixtures. Borrow from $500 to $50,000 and access free business counseling from microlenders. Use the Local Assistance tool to find a Microloan intermediary in your area or please contact your SBA district office.

Having trouble securing capital to meet your small business exporting needs? Use SBA international trade programs to cover short or long-term costs necessary to sell goods or services abroad. Loan proceeds can be used for working capital to finance foreign sales or fixed assets, helping you better compete globally. Apply for lines of credit prior to finalizing an export sale or contract and adequate financing will be in place by the time you win your contract.

If you’ve been in business for at least a year, ask your area SBA regional finance manager about the Export Working Capital program.

The International Trade loan program also helps exporters who have been adversely affected by foreign importing competition, helping you better compete globally.

In April 2017, Former President Trump issued an Executive Order promoting agriculture and rural prosperity. In support of that effort, SBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that commits to a deeper collaboration and coordination of resources.

SBA is working to increase access to capital, improve opportunities for public and private investments in rural America, help rural businesses export products around the world, and increase the resiliency of rural communities through small business development. The effort aims to achieve the President’s vision of a rural America with world-class resources, and the tools and support necessary to build robust and sustainable communities.

SBA supports small business development in two significant place-based programs to encourage economic growth and prosperity in historically underserved communities:

Created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, this program allowed states to designate certain low-income census tracts as Opportunity Zones. Investors may defer, reduce, and eventually eliminate capital gains tax obligations provided they invest in eligible businesses located within Opportunity Zones and hold these qualifying investments for certain periods of time. The intent of this program is to direct realized capital gains into communities that have traditionally not benefited from this kind of investment, and to reward investors who choose to make long-term investments in underserved communities. Visit the U.S. Housing and Urban Developments Opportunity Zones website for more information. 

Businesses located in historically underused business zones (HUBZones) can gain special access to federal contracts. The program is easier to apply for and then maintain your certification. To qualify, your small business must:

• Be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by U.S. citizens, a community development corporation, an agricultural cooperative, Indian tribal government, Alaska native corporation, or a native Hawaiian organization;
• Have a principal office located in a HUBZone. Enter your address in our interactive map, maps.certify. sba.gov/hubzone/map, to see if you qualify;
• Have at least 35% of your employees living in a HUBZone for a minimum of 180 days prior to applying.

Much of the innovation in our country today comes from startups and small businesses. Small businesses conducting research and development create the devices, technologies, products, and platforms of the future. Entrepreneurs in rural areas are often looking for sources of funding, especially in earlier stages of research, and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs are well-suited to meet that need.

The SBIR and the SBTT programs, known as America’s Seed Fund, provide over $4 billion each year in early stage capital through a competitive awards process. Every year, participating federal agencies announce topic areas that address their R&D needs. The funding agency does not take an equity position or ownership of your business. The federal government also protects data rights and the ability to win sole-source phase three contracts. SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research program offers several ways to find funding opportunities, helpful tutorials, and news about past award winners such as Qualcomm, iRobot, Illumina, and Symantec. Use the local resources locator tool to identify state and regional programs and resources available to assist with grant writing, commercialization, and business counseling in your community.

The FAST program provides funding for one year to organizations to support delivery of regional and state programs that increase the number of SBIR/STTR proposals and provide technical assistance and mentoring to help awardees commercialize their technologies. This program is particularly impactful in rural states that may have fewer networks by which to provide this kind of assistance to applicants and awardees.

https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/grow-your-business/rural-businesses