Chief, Private Network For Female Execs, Raises $100M At $1.1B Valuation

Main, a private network intended to aid extra businesswomen increase into positions of electric power, elevated a $100 million Sequence B investment decision led by CapitalG at a valuation of $1.1 billion, itself signing up for the ranks of feminine-established unicorn startups.

Founded by CEO Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan in 2019, the corporation says it accomplished significant progress for the duration of the pandemic. The platform now has a lot more than 12,000 woman company leaders—largely C-suite executives and vice presidents—in its network, from organizations like HBO, American Specific, Nike, Google, Goldman Sachs, NASA, Apple, IBM, Netflix and Lockheed Martin. A different 60,000 women of all ages are on its waitlist, it explained.

“Women have generally been highly effective, and our target is to magnify and cross-pollinate that influence so girls executives have a international community to guidance them,” Childers said in a assertion.

Chief’s expansion will come as women continue to be a minority in the best ranks of the company earth. Just 41 of the Fortune 500 corporations have female CEOs as of final calendar year, a report at 8.1 per cent.

Ladies are also substantially underrepresented amongst enterprise traders, and when it comes to primary funded startups: Just 2.2 percent of U.S. venture funding in the to start with 8 months of 2021 went to firms with a sole feminine founder, according to Crunchbase details.

Past 12 months, 83 startups founded or co-started by females turned unicorns, or personal corporations valued at $1 billion or much more. That was also a new document, but continue to represented just 13 p.c of the 595 new unicorns minted in 2021, for every Crunchbase information.

Chief’s hottest funding was led by CapitalG, the impartial advancement fund of Google mother or father business Alphabet. CapitalG Typical Associate Laela Strong joins the Chief board of directors along with the funding, which also involved participation from General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Inspired Money, Main Undertaking Associates, Flybridge Capital Partners and BoxGroup.

“Chief has made a globe-class technology platform to nurture the critical in-person and virtual connections and personal and profession enhancement that help executives prosper,” Sturdy mentioned in a assertion. 

Chief said the fresh capital will be employed to make investments in its system, together with the addition of more personalization options that greater connect users and provide them applicable organization insights.

The company is also committing $1 million a 12 months to nonprofits that advertise range, equity and inclusion in government management.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Correction: A preceding model of this article misstated the total of U.S. venture heading to feminine-founded startups. Providers with sole female founders gained 2.2 per cent of U.S. undertaking funding by means of the initial 8 months of 2021 people with male and feminine co-founders been given 11.7 per cent all through that interval.