Mii Ventures looks at women as ‘economic engines’

As families across the US prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, Allison Stern looks beyond one day of gratitude.

Stern just closed $10 million in its initial funding round, Mother Ventureswhich only focuses on the mother as a consumer.

“In the US, women are responsible for 85% of household purchases and account for $2.4 trillion in energy consumption,” Stern (pictured below) told TechCrunch. “Statistics show that women are consumers, and they are a unique economic engine.”

Stern, a mother of two, is using this method of spending money by supporting foundations that reflect the needs of today’s women. Since the launch of Mother Ventures two years ago, it has already invested $4 million in 13 startups. Its portfolio includes Coral Care, which allows instant booking of medical professionals for children with developmental delays, and Tin Can, a famous The Wi-Fi connected “landline” is designed as a retro look children’s phone.

Prior to founding his fund, he co-founded Tubular Labs, a video analytics startup that helped grow to $25 million in recurring revenue by 2023 before being acquired by private equity firms and partnered with The Chernin Group (TCG), a consumer consulting firm.

Another part of TCG’s portfolio included support companies that served the ‘non-spending public,’ as Barstool Sports, which originally targeted Boston sports fans, said.

When Stern started to launch his fund, he realized that women were the one market that could bring in huge profits. He said:

Stern convinced Tony James, former president and COO of Blackstone and current chairman of Costco, to back Mother Ventures as the anchor LP. Other supporters of the fund include Jessica Rolph, the founder of children’s development Lovevery, and the female executives of Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Sesame Street, he said.

They say Millennial and Gen Z moms expect a variety of things from on-demand transportation like Zum, to ready-made meal delivery from DoorDash, and fintech tools like Greenlight that let parents pay off a child’s credit card instantly.

“We want healthy products. We want subscription products. We want digital communities,” he said.

However, Stern doesn’t want his fund to be known as one that relies solely on parenting skills. “It’s a consumer fund, and we’re focused on women because consumers allow us to hedge our bets,” he said.