Issue #08 | Wednesday, May 13, 2026
✉️ Letter from the Editor
Each week, WINS LIST continues to evolve as we get clearer on the lane we want to dominate around women and capital.
In addition to the weekly funding announcement list, I’m going to begin to deliver commentary and insight around founder signals.
A founder signal is any visible indicator that reduces investor uncertainty.
A high-signal founder makes it easier for investors to understand:
what they are building
why they are uniquely positioned to build it
why the market opportunity matters now
why execution risk feels lower
This week, I’ll look at Corgi — a business insurance startup co-founded by Emily Yuan and Nico Laqua that just announced their Series B.
🗒️ In other notes…
$1.664 billion USD: The total capital raised by 26 companies with one or more female founder, as reported this week.
This total is heavily skewed by Kalshi’s (Luana Lopez Lara) $1B Series F, which is a major outlier. Without Kalshi, the total would be approximately $664M.
A women-led VC fund 100% dedicated to companies built by moms was announced.
Categorically, we’re seeing an expansion of institutional confidence in women building technically ambitious companies.
As it relates to positioning… It is clear that investors are prioritizing vertical integration over generic AI positioning.
Key takeaways…
1. Women are doing really hard things, and securing funding as they build.
2. A startup labeled AI-powered business insurance a year ago is now being positioned as business insurance infrastructure tech. Subtle, but important shift.
The signals in this digest come from a variety of credible sources. If you have a tip, opp, data point, or story you would like to include, please send it to [email protected].
Thank you for being a valued subscriber of WINS LIST.
Amie
Amie Sheridan | Editor WINS LIST
📶 Capital Signal
📈 Founder Raises
Altara (Eva Tuecke and Catherine Yeo) raised $7M Seed to build scientific intelligence infrastructure for advanced manufacturing led by Greylock.
Corgi (Emily Yuan) raised $160M Series B at a $1.3B valuation to scale AI-enabled insurance products for startups led by TCV.
Cytospire Therapeutics (Natalie Mount) raised £61M Series A to develop immune cell engager therapies for cancer led by 4BIO Capital.
Degen (Raissa Chagas) raised $15M Seed to build modular AI-powered creative tools led by GV.
ENVIOTECH (Linh Pham) raised €1M Pre-Seed to modernize public street lighting infrastructure.
Fazeshift (Caitlin Leksana) raised $17M Series A to automate accounts receivable and finance operations led by F-Prime.
Five ID (Maria Marti) raised $6M Seed to expand biometric payment technology infrastructure.
Flora (Anna Kreshchenko) raised $1.5M to build AI infrastructure addressing the gender healthcare data gap.
Humara (Laura Rodríguez Álvarez) raised €1.2M Seed to redesign waste and recycling plant operations led by Impact Shakers (Yonka Braeckman & Diana Pati).
Illoca (Chiaowei Yu) raised $13M Seed to build AI-native architecture and design infrastructure led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Kalshi (Luana Lopes Lara) announced a $1B Series F at a $22B valuation to scale regulated prediction markets led by Coatue.
Modicus Prime (Taylor Chartier) raised $8M to build AI-enabled pharmaceutical compliance infrastructure led by Frist Cressey Ventures.
Moment Energy (Sumreen Rattan) raised $40M Series B to repurpose EV batteries into grid-scale energy storage led by Evok Innovations.
Mosh (Maria Shriver) raised $13M Series A to scale brain health-focused nutrition products led by Main Street Advisors.
Nace.AI (Swathi Bansoda) raised $21.5M Seed to automate complex knowledge workflows with AI led by Walden Catalyst.
Nova Intelligence (Emma Qian) raised $31.5M to build AI infrastructure for SAP development and migration led by Chemistry (Kristina Shen).
OpsMill (Karen Gallantry) raised $14M Series A to power enterprise infrastructure automation led by IRIS.
Pumpkinseed (Jennifer Dionne) raised $20M Series A to advance protein sequencing technology led by NFX and Future Ventures (Maryanna Saenko).
RadixArk (Ying Sheng) raised $100M Seed at a $400M valuation to improve AI training and inference efficiency led by Accel and Spark Capital.
Reduciner (Johanna Grönroos) raised €3.6M to convert captured carbon dioxide into reusable industrial fuel from Voima Ventures (Inka Mero) and Lifeline Ventures.
Reserv (Martha Dreiling) raised $125M Series C to modernize insurance claims processing with AI led by KKR.
SageOx (Milkana Brace) raised $15M Seed to build shared-context infrastructure for AI-native teams led by Canaan Partners.
Signadori Bio (Nathalie CHAPUT) raised €11.1M Seed to develop in vivo immunotherapies for solid tumors from Taiho Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, and Invivo Partners.
Spring Labs (Anna Fridman) raised $5M Seed to build AI-native compliance infrastructure for financial institutions co-led by BankTech Ventures and Haymaker Ventures.
Sugarox (Cara Griffiths) raised £2.5M to develop crop biostimulants that improve agricultural resilience from The Mosaic Company.
XCaliber Health (Trushna Dave) raised $6.5M Seed to streamline clinical workflows with an agentic healthcare operating system led by ManchesterStory.
🏦 VC Signals
Mother Ventures (Allison Stern) launched a $10M debut fund focused on startups serving mothers and families.
“👀 ❤️ 💵 Moms are the beating heart of the U.S. economy. They make the lion's share of household purchases and evangelize the products that work. They are one of the biggest and most powerful consumer markets in the world – and no venture fund has made them their core thesis. Until now. What an opportunity, what a mission, and what fun!”
👀 If I’m Reading the Signs…
Founder Signal Assessment: Corgi (Emily Yuan & Nico Laqua)
Corgi — AI powered business insurance — announced a $160M Series B and $1.3B valuation. The story was covered in Tech Crunch on May 6.
Here are the signals I’m picking up from their announcement.
➡️ Funding Signal
$160M Series B led by TCV
$108M Series A just 4 months earlier
$268M total funding
YC-backed unicorn status
Signal reading: 🟢 Extremely strong capital velocity + Tier 1 investor conviction
➡️ Positioning Signal
Business insurance for startups
Covers general liability, cyber, tech, and AI liability
Clear enterprise category with regulatory adjacency
Signal reading: 🟢 Very high clarity
➡️ Credibility Signal
YC Spring 2024 batch
Founders started company in 2024 (fast execution timeline)
Early enterprise customer adoption (Deel, Artisan)
Tier 1 investor syndicate (TCV, Kindred Ventures)
Signal reading: 🟢 Strong institutional + ecosystem credibility
➡️ Momentum Signal
Series A → B in 4 months
Rapid unicorn formation
Expansion capital explicitly tied to new product lines
Signal reading: 🟢 Very high velocity
✅ Final Signal Assessment
All signs are looking up for Corgi, as they effectively infuse their funding announcement with investor-native signals.
On LinkedIn, the founders are posting their own commentary. They’re also letting their networks know they are hiring.
Emily Yuan & Nico Laqua are high-signal founders showing traction, credibility and momentum.
In her own words:
“At Corgi, we always ask ourselves what the most ambitious version of this company would be doing at any point in time. In such a heavily regulated industry, it takes a lot more intention and aggression to move the needle on things. Insurance represents roughly 12% of the US GDP, yet vast parts of the economy have been underserved for far too long. We're constantly pushing to rebuild the infrastructure beneath it.”
🎬 Signing Off
That’s a wrap on issue #08.
WINS LIST tracks the signals shaping women founders and investors.
In today’s ecosystem, visibility matters.
👀 We are seeing founders and VCs leveraging their own channels to amplify their traction.
👀 We are seeing startup storytelling begin six to twelve months before a raise.
👀 We are seeing funding announcements lead to press tours.
👀 We are seeing women founders showcasing credibility, momentum, and demand.
Follow along with us as we unbox investor perspectives and frame out the fundability metrics they evaluate when considering not only where their investments should go, but also which founders to meet.
We do not represent nor are we compensated by any of the businesses we cover.
Thank you for being a valued subscriber.
See you next week.
— WINS LIST
