Co-Investor Spotlight - Red Clover Ventures
News
We are excited to share our next Co-investor Spotlight! This installment features a recently-created fund, Red Clover Ventures. They invest in early stage, female-led companies across New England and beyond and cofounder Nikkie Kent, is based in Burlington, VT. Given MVF’s success in supporting female entrepreneurs (roughly 30% of all investments vs 2% national average), we expect to hear the name Red Clover in Maine investment circles more often going forward…
Red Clover Ventures
Red Clover is a relatively new fund, and you have a history as an operator at one of the most successful New England companies in recent memory (venture-backed Mamava, based in Burlington, VT). Can you share a bit more about what inspired you to pivot to the venture investing side?
As an executive operator at a female founded start-up for eight years, I saw first hand the challenges of female founder fundraising. First, as a category creator in fam-tech, our product, services and business model didn’t fit neatly into most of the traditional venture capital models. As our company grew I saw first-hand the value of bringing on early-stage investors to keep our growth pace alongside the compromises made to both retain certified women ownership and make decisions at the board level. I was inspired to pivot to venture to see if I could be a part of the solution to female founders only receiving 2% of the total VC pool. My goal with Red Clover is to better balance the founder and funder dynamic by delivering more than just capital with my learned operator experience and strategic support for growth.
What is something you thought you knew about venture capital as an operator that turned out to be different now that you’re on the other side of the table?
It is easy to think of Venture Capital as a “Shark Tank” because of the actual show on TV. As an entrepreneur, the fundraising process is often laborious, taking up meaningful bandwidth for due diligence only to not get an investment. The industry is considered to be extremely competitive on deals. We have found the opposite to be true. Through an incredible national network we have had so many doors opened up by female funds with incredible women managing partners that want to help us learn and network within the industry. This has led to incredible deal flow and opportunities as well as introductions to women investor networks. We are grateful to the VC community, like our new friends at Maine Venture Fund for embracing a new fund like us with open arms. This collaboration is turning traditional “vulture capital”on its head!
Startup ecosystems in Northern New England states tend to be small and intimate. Can you describe what you’re seeing in Burlington by way of opportunities and obstacles for startups, and how important connection to out-of-state networks is for founders?
Burlington has always had a booming entrepreneurial ecosystem with nationally successful companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Burton Snowboards, IDX, Dealer.Com, and now Beta Technologies. What is amazing about Vermont is that the community is so small that many local businesses and funds are willing to go to bat to make each other successful.
At Mamava, founder Sascha Mayer convinced nationally recognized brand Seventh Generation (now owned by Unilever), on a handshake, to cover the capital costs of her first lactation pod that she located at Burlington International Airport.
Like most things, our strengths can also be a part of our weakness. As a small and isolated state, Vermont’s economy, demographics and industry are limiting factors for growth potential.
Have you made an investment in a Maine company yet? What are you most excited about in considering investment in Maine?
As a new fund just formed this year, we have made one investment in Birmingham, Alabama and are working on our second investment which will be here in Vermont.
We are excited about the opportunity to invest in our fellow New England state of Maine as we think it mirrors the entrepreneurial spirit here in Vermont. Maine’s supportive environment for entrepreneurs with historic funding for innovation and diversity initiatives represents values alignment with our fund. We hope to co-invest alongside our friends at MVF for these exact reasons.
Can you describe in more detail your fund’s specific focus (geography, stage, industry, type of entrepreneur, etc)?
We’ll invest in early-stage businesses seeking seed funding that are founded, led or co-led by a woman. While our investments will be industry agnostic so as not to limit our potential, we plan to fund women founders that are filling market gaps in new categories that require more patient capital. This will likely be a product or service that improves outcomes, access, infrastructure and support for women. Based on our expertise we will likely lean into businesses selling B2B and in the sectors of women’s health, FamTech, FemTech, The Care Economy and Sustainability.
Besides your fund parameters, what is the most important thing that you evaluate in your diligence process?
In addition to the non-negotiable thesis alignment (female founder, US based, seed stage, mission-driven/impact oriented, scalable business model), we are highly focused on founder diligence. As someone who has built my professional career on relationship building, spending meaningful time with the founders and evaluating how we would work together is a critical piece of our investing puzzle.
In addition to evaluating if founders can clearly articulate their vision and execution strategy, I ask myself a set of questions: Does the founder have a leadership background, previous startup experience or domain expertise? What is her fundraising history and existing investor relationships? How are the team dynamics and are they building with complementary skillsets in mind? I’m looking for a “Green Flags” founder to invest in!
If a company feels like they are a fit for Red Clover, what is the best way to get in touch?
Two ways to connect! Check out our landing page and sign up for our Newsletter here: https://www.redclovervc.com/ or email Nikkie Kent at nikkie@redclovervc.com
