Founder Newsletter #39
In today's newsletter:
Upcoming: In February, join us for a fireside chat with Sydney Paige Thomas from Symphonic Capital, followed by another insightful session in March with Jenny Fielding from Everything VC.
Free Founder resources, programs, accelerators and more!
Our Latest Funding Report: Check out the startups that got funded this month
We are on Slack: If you haven't already, join our exclusive G&W Slack channel here!
Upcoming: Fireside Chat with Sydney Paige Thomas, Founder & General Partner at Symphonic Capital
Join us next month for an inspiring conversation with Sydney Paige Thomas, the visionary behind Symphonic Capital, a venture capital firm focused on closing access gaps in health and wealth for underserved communities. With two decades of expertise in investing and policy, Sydney’s strategic approach has helped build companies now valued at $100M+. Before founding Symphonic, she scaled one of Silicon Valley’s first Pre-Seed funds to remarkable success, overseeing 400+ investments and $200M+ in assets under management.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insights from a proven fund builder and investor with a passion for creating lasting impact. RSVP here.
Founder Resources
Accelerators & Programs
CO.LAB Sustainable Mobility Accelerator: Powered by gener8tor, this program supports 12 high-growth startups annually (2 cohorts of 6) driving innovation in sustainable mobility. Apply here by 1/27
Future Builders Fellowship (2025): This program supports US founders to tackle
various social issues through training, resources, and residencies in Washington, DC, and Atlanta. Apply here by 2/16
Climate Fellowship (2025): This program brings together entrepreneurs to address climate issues. It provides training, resources, and an 8-week residency in Washington, DC. Apply here by 2/16.
Y Combinator Spring 2025: Y Combinator is accepting applications for its Spring 2025 Batch (April–June in San Francisco). Apply by February 11 at 8 PM PT for a decision by 3/12
Grants
Santander’s Cultivate Small Business program empowers early-stage food entrepreneurs, prioritizing women-, immigrant-, and BIPOC-owned businesses in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. This free 12-week program offers a food-focused curriculum, mentorship, and capital grants to eligible participants.
Boundless Futures Foundation uplifts female entrepreneurs through grants to new businesses and like-minded nonprofits. Grants support entrepreneurs driving social impact through innovative products or practices that address critical issues such as poverty, hunger, sustainability, and community building. Eligible businesses prioritize profit with purpose, demonstrating a clear commitment to creating positive and lasting change.
Caltech's Rocket Fund supports academic and garage innovators in turning technologies into commercial realities through funding, mentoring, and education. It fosters growth through a collaborative, supportive community.
Events
Master the Art of Influencer Marketing Workshop: Build Authentic, Impactful Partnerships. Led by Julianne Fraser, Founder & CEO of Dialogue New York, this session dives deep into crafting strategic, long-lasting influencer marketing plans that resonate with audiences, elevate brand goals, and drive measurable performance.
How to Align Your Brand Messaging with Your Startup Mission. Learn how to create impactful brand messaging by attending this virtual workshop by Founder Institute for free on 1/27.
Seattle: Fundamentals for Startups is a popular and free lecture series for founders hosted at CoMotion Labs every Friday noon. Join the next one on 1/24
on LinkedIn hacks, part 1: Attract your dream team by veteran recruitment professional Adam Kovács.
Resources
WA based Founders: Our friends at WTIA offer competitive, cost-effective health plans that grow with your business. With access to 27 plan options, and a wide range of wellness programs, you can provide your employees with comprehensive coverage while simplifying your admin. Join over 400 companies leveraging WTIA's purchasing power to offer benefits that make a difference—like $0 cost virtual visits and wellness incentives like a free Apple Watch. Reach out to get a quote.
More Cloud Credits! Founders in our community are now eligible for even more Cloud credits thanks to our partnership with AWS Activate program. Build, experiment, and scale with up to $25k in AWS Activate cloud credits. Apply here and use our unique and org id 8ipK4. Only FFA founders are eligible for these benefits.
Superhuman co-founder Gaurav Vohra offers a compelling perspective on the evolution of growth and its impact on founding teams. Read the full article here.
Breaking into enterprise can feel like navigating a black box. This thread on X breaks down how one startup secured a contract with a Fortune 10 company.
G&W Benefits
Find our latest and greatest G&W Founder Benefits here to get your hands on the exclusive partner perks available to our founder community!
Funding Report
Culina Health, a clinical nutrition care digital platform, announced raising $7.9M in a Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to USD 20 million. The round was spearheaded by Healthworx, the innovation and investment arm of CareFirst, with additional participantatiomn from Rethink Impact, Collab Capital, Collide Capital, Vamos Ventures, Tensility Venture Partners, Cake Ventures, and Graham & Walker.
Twelve Labs, the video understanding company, announced that three of the world's leading infrastructure providers, Databricks, SK Telecom, and Snowflake Ventures, as well as HubSpot Ventures and In-Q-Tel (IQT) have each made a total of $30M in strategic investment in the company.
Bedrock Energy, a geothermal heating and cooling startup, announced a $12M Series A led by Titanium Ventures. Energy Impact Partners and Sustainable Future Ventures joined alongside existing investors Wireframe Ventures, Overture Ventures, Toba Capital, Elemental Impact, First Star Ventures, and Cantos.
Overland AI, a company developing advanced autonomy for uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), announced a $32M Series A funding round to accelerate the adoption of its ground capabilities for defense and national security. This funding round was led by 8VC, with participation from Point72 Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Ascend, Osage University Partners, and Caprock.
Raspberry AI, a New York-based generative AI platform for fashion creatives, has raised $24M in Series A funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Greycroft, Correlation Ventures, MVP Ventures, and angel investors including Gokul Rajaram and Ken Pilot.
(…Continue reading the Funding Report on the blog)
Graham & Walker does two things: we support founders & we invest in founders. Wherever you are, we are here for you.
We invest in deeply human problems, especially in the areas of health, work and caretaking. If you’re an early stage woman-founded tech company in North America ready to change the world, we want to meet you.
Join our Slack to share resources and connect with other female and nonbinary founders!