Approximately $715M in disclosed startup funding went to 12 companies with one or more verified female founder this week, led by EliseAI's $350M Series F and Valon's $150M Series D.

AI and AI-native software startups accounted for roughly 74% of the total funding.

Four new venture funds totaling roughly $237M were announced, including Protego Ventures' debut $125M Fund I, led by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, plus new vehicles from Enable Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, and BAG Ventures.

Athletes on the Cap Table highlights the capital moves of Lindsay Whalen, Sloane Stephens, Tim Tebow, Laura Youngson, and Michele Kang.

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Funding rounds raised by companies with one or more women founders

EliseAI (Minna Song) closed $350M Series F at a $4B valuation to continue developing its AI agents that automate workflows for housing and healthcare operators, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners. —Fortune, Sep 29

Valon (Linda Du) raised $150M Series D at a $2.3B valuation to keep deploying its AI-native operating system that automates loan-servicing workflows for mortgage subservicers, led by Ribbit Capital. —Tech Funding News, Oct 6

Hertha Metals (Dr. Laureen Meroueh) raised $133.65M Series A to scale its single-continuous-reactor process for producing high-purity iron and steel for domestic rare-earth magnets, co-led by Khosla Ventures and Doerr Capital. —Business Wire, Sep 29

Tiny Health (Cheryl Sew Hoy) raised $33M Series B to scale its at-home microbiome-testing platform that tracks gut-health markers from infancy through adulthood, led by B Capital. —Crunchbase News, Sep 29

Inbolt (Albane Dersy) raised €11M (~$12.5M) to grow its 3D-vision and AI software that lets industrial robots detect changing conditions and adjust their movements in real time, led by Shift4Good. —Shift4Good, Sep 30

Biotia (Niamh O'Hara, PhD) raised an oversubscribed $9M Series A to scale its clinical metagenomics platform, which diagnoses hard-to-catch infections, backed by Convergent Ventures and others. —PR Newswire, Oct 1

Beltic (Isha Bhatnagar) emerged from stealth with $8.8M raised across seed and pre-seed rounds to build infrastructure that verifies AI agents' identities and authority before they transact on businesses' behalf, led by Norwest and Collide Capital. —PR Newswire, Sep 30

snag (Selin Sonmez) raised $4M seed for its AI-powered marketplace for NYC sublets, lease takeovers, and flexible rentals, led by Slow Ventures. —AlleyWatch, Oct 2026

Farm to People (Anina von Haeften) landed $5M for its local-produce delivery and small-farm marketplace, led by New Fare Partner. —New Fare Partners, Sep 14

Mona (Anny Dow) raised $3.5M to expand its AI platform and human coaching that helps small-business owners find and apply for capital in one place, led by Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners. —Forbes, Sept 28

NOX Energy (Axelle Moortgat) raised €3M Seed to grow its software that lets home heat pumps and solar panels respond automatically to real-time electricity price swings, co-led by Rise PropTech and Volve Capital. —Tech Funding News, Sep 30

Flouria Health (Jeanine van Munster, Anna Christie) raised €1.5M to scale its women's hormonal-health clinic and coaching platform, backed by Healthy.Capital. —Femtech Insider, Oct 1

Protego Ventures (Lital Leshem, Lee Moser) closed its debut $125M Fund I to back early-growth Israeli defense and security-technology companies building AI, drone, and autonomous-systems capabilities. —TechCrunch, Sep 29

BAG Ventures (Bonita Stewart) closed its debut $11.3M Fund I to back enterprise AI startups spanning infrastructure, edge AI, security and governance, and vertical SaaS. —TechCrunch, Sep 30

Enable Ventures (Regina Kline) closed its debut $50.31M market-rate fund to back startups in disability, accessibility, and other markets traditional VCs have overlooked. —AccessNewswire, Sep 28

Dorm Room Fund (Molly Fowler) raised a new $50M fund to continue writing pre-seed checks to back current college students and recent grads across roughly 30 partner campuses, with a growing focus on AI-native founders. —Axios Pro Rata, Sep 29

Athlete-backed capital moves that caught our attention this week

This section is contributed by Christie Lenox.

UpSmith, a developer of AI for home-services businesses, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Tim Tebow-anchored WaterStone Impact Fund participated in the round.

Champion, an Indiana-based AI sales coaching platform, raised $5 million in funding from investors including Bread and Butter Ventures, a Minnesota-based early-stage fund whose LP base includes Minnesota Lynx/WNBA legend and Olympic medalist 🏆Lindsay Whalen.

snag (Selin Sonmez), an AI-powered marketplace for sublets and short-term rentals, raised $4m in seed funding. Slow Ventures led, joined by Precursor Ventures and grand slam champion, 🏆 Sloane Stephens.

Ida Sports (🏆 Laura Youngson), maker of footwear engineered specifically for female athletes' biomechanics, secured ~$2.1M of a new $4.2M equity funding round per SEC filings. The brand’s cap table ecosystem includes Michele Kang’s Kynisca Sports International.

Every week, we track the capital flowing to and from women founders and investors and unpack the capital moves of elite athletes.

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