Curate Capital is a venture capital firm that accelerates the success of companies by women for women. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Curate Capital founder and general partner Carrie Colbert to learn more about the firm.
Carrie Colbert’s Background
What is Carrie Colbert’s background? Colbert said:
“My name is Carrie Colbert; I originally grew up in a small town in the Texas panhandle and was the first in my family to graduate from college. I earned a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating at the top of my class. I continued my career for two decades in the oil and gas industry.”
“While working at Hilcorp, I continued to hold leadership positions that taught me great leadership skills and how to navigate a team within an entrepreneurial environment. After ’retiring’ from the industry at age 38, I soon became an influencer (somewhat by accident) and gained a following of over 85,000 on my Instagram account.”
”During this time, I connected with so many women-owned businesses and began investing my money into their companies. After gaining a significant number of deals, I was able to launch Curate Capital in 2020, which is a venture capitalist firm that invests in consumer-facing businesses by women for women. Today, I continue to invest in women and empower them to be the best leaders they can be in their businesses. In addition, I am a mentor for a large community of women in business, and I am an officer for The University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering executive advisory board.”
Evolution Of Curate Capital’s Thesis
How has Curate Capital’s thesis evolved over time? Colbert noted:
“Initially, our focus was primarily on providing financial support to female entrepreneurs, recognizing the systemic barriers they face in accessing capital. I broadly described our thesis as businesses ’by women for women’ claiming that we were industry agnostic.”
“However, as we delved deeper into the landscape of women-led businesses, our understanding evolved. We realized that merely providing capital wasn’t enough to address women entrepreneurs’ multifaceted challenges. So, we now focus on businesses where we can provide strategic value through expertise, skills, and networking. Thus, our thesis now is investing in female-founded consumer brands. That’s where we can provide the most value. Once they’ve found that product-market fit, we can help them and ultimately scale with our skills in influencer marketing, social media content, general marketing, and more.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Colbert’s favorite memory working for your firm so far? Colbert reflected:
“In late 2022, after closing our first fund, we held a celebratory luncheon in our hometown of Houston. Many of our funders, founders, and friends gathered together in person to celebrate the monumentous occasion of raising $15 million to invest in female founders.”
“I had the idea to start Curate Capital at the beginning of 2020 – right before the pandemic. So, those early days were very isolating and lonely. I questioned myself many times. And even while we were fundraising, there were months when I wasn’t sure we were going to meet our goal. So, to see everything come to life in such a beautiful celebration really touched my heart. It all felt very real at that moment. In fact, I may have shed a few tears when I walked into the venue which was so beautifully adorned with all of our branding and messaging and portfolio company products and such.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of your firm’s most significant milestones? Colbert cited:
”When closing our first fund in the summer of 2022, my team and I exceeded our goal by over 50% with a $15 million dollar raise. This was a huge milestone for me because the fund was primarily supported by female investors, further solidifying my purpose of helping more women invest in the dreams of other women. Indeed, almost 80% of our investors are women.”
Investment Success Stories
After asking Colbert about investment success stories, she highlighted:
“When starting out, I invested over $1 million of my own personal wealth in funding women-owned businesses. That is what sparked a passion in me to keep helping women business owners succeed. So, I look back fondly on those early days of angel investing. I am glad that I learned many valuable lessons – on my own dime.”
Assets Under Management
Upon asking Colbert to discuss assets under management AUM or any other notable metrics, she revealed:
”My firm Curate Capital raised $15M from almost 80% women in 2022, and has invested in fifteen female-founded companies.”
”I also implemented a revolutionary “influential investing” model. This model was born out of my personal experience of being an influencer and investing. This is not just some trend that we are latching on to. But rather something we were at the forefront of developing through my own personal experience. I saw firsthand how excited founders were to have me as an investor for both the capital and the social media expertise.”
”This model allows influencers to invest and use their skills to help brands grow. By implementing this, I landed a feature in Forbes, and around 30% of the money raised for my first fund came from influencers. These influencers personally invested over $4 million, which averages over $250k per influencer.”
“And we merely dipped our toe in the water, so to speak, with the concept of influential investing in fund 1. We will be taking this idea to scale with our next fund. We’ve had so much inbound interest from influencers wanting to invest and have ownership in companies.”
Industry Focus
What are some of the industries that Curate Capital is focused on? Colbert noted:
“We focus on consumer-facing female-founded brands. That doesn’t mean that every investment will be in a CPG company. We do invest in CPG, but we also leave ourselves open to other consumer-facing companies.”
“For instance, we are investors in IntuiTap Medical. IntuiTap has created a spinal imaging device that makes getting epidurals easier and less painful. While I am certainly not a skilled medical expert nor are we a healthcare focused fund, this particular opportunity spoke to our “by women for women” mission so clearly that we jumped all in.”
Differentiation From Other Firms
What differentiates Curate Capital from other firms? Colbert affirmed:
”Curate Capital is unique in that it invests in women-owned businesses and creates a space for female entrepreneurs to learn how to scale their businesses effectively. Unlike many other venture capital firms, Curate Capital operates with a mission-driven approach that prioritizes gender diversity and inclusion. By specifically targeting women-led ventures, Curate Capital not only addresses the glaring gender disparity in venture funding but also recognizes the immense untapped potential and talent within this demographic.”
“Additionally, we are uniquely positioned in that we are powered by women. Certainly, there are a lot of female-focused funds, but when you peek behind the curtain, so to speak, they are powered by the same men and institutional investors as many other funds. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, we are proud to champion women in every facet of our ecosystem – from our investors to founders and consumers and our team at Curate.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Colbert faced while working at the firm? Colbert acknowledged:
“I jokingly say that I was very naive when I started Curate Capital. I started Curate Capital because I enjoy investing in female-founded businesses, and I knew I had tremendous deal flow. However, I knew nothing about fundraising or fund administration. So, those two aspects have been steep learning curves.”
“I’ve worked to overcome those challenges in two ways: (1) by immersing myself in the industry and learning all I can, and (2) by seeking out support and counsel from others to help fill in my gaps and blind spots.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Curate Capital’s future goals? Colbert concluded:
“We’re very close to launching our second fund in the coming months, which will also come with some exciting new developments. More importantly, we continue to spread our mission of accelerating the success of businesses by women, for women. Secondarily, we are passionate about breaking down barriers for women to understand investing.”