Founder Newsletter #44
Events, funding opportunities, resources and community for female founders
In today's newsletter:
Our next Virtual Fireside Chat: On June 10th, we're bringing powerhouse tech journalist Eric Newcomer into the Graham & Walker community to talk power shifts, startup dynamics, and what’s next for venture. We can’t wait to hear what he has to share. Register here! 👀
Reflections from NYC Founder Day: A digest of the key sessions, takeaways, and the energy in the room. Find the full recap here!🌟
Funding Report: This month’s standout raises by women-led startups. Curated, concise, and worth celebrating. Read here! 🚀
Founder Fuel: Handpicked list of events, grants, and programs to have on your radar this month! Scroll down for all the goods! 💫
👀 June Fireside Chat: Go inside the VC world with Eric Newcomer, founder and writer of Newcomer
Eric Newcomer is the founder and author of Newcomer, “a deeply reported newsletter on the inner workings of the startup industry." He is widely known for breaking news, delivering sharp analysis, and providing candid perspectives on the rapidly evolving worlds of tech startups and venture capital.
Join us for an engaging fireside chat as Leslie Feinzaig, GP at Graham & Walker, sits down with Eric to explore what he's seeing from his unique vantage point within the startup ecosystem. Expect thoughtful insights, trend forecasts, and exclusive anecdotes you won't hear anywhere else.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get an insider’s view directly from one of the industry's most trusted voices!!
🗓️ June 10th, 11am PT/ 2pm ET
👉 RSVP here.
🌟 Reflections from NYC Founder Day
NYC Founder Day brought together a handpicked group of 50 founders and investors for honest conversations about fundraising, AI, the state of VC, and what it takes to lead right now.
From pitch deck tear-downs to cupcakes and tea, it was a day packed with insight and energy!
Read the full recap here.
🚀 Female Founders Funding Report
Tilt Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company led by CEO Akseli Hemminki, announced the closing of a $25.6M round to advance immunotherapy treatments for hard-to-treat cancers, including ovarian cancer.
Stackpack, an AI-powered platform for third-party vendor management, announced a $6.3M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Haystack, General Advance, and others. Founded by Sara Wyman, Stackpack aims to streamline vendor operations for mid-market companies by eliminating manual processes and reducing risk across procurement and compliance.
Spur, an AI-powered website testing platform co-founded by Sneha Sivakumar and Anushka Nijhawan, announced the closing of a $4.5M seed round led by First Round Capital, with participation from Pear VC, Neo, Conviction, and others.
Capsule, an AI-powered video editing platform, announced the closing of a $12M Series A financing led by Innovation Endeavors, with participation from HubSpot Ventures and several others including Frame.io founder Emery Wells, former Twilio executive François Dufour, Ramp co-founder Karim Atiyeh, and Instacart’s chief marketing officer Laura Jones.
(…dive into the full Funding Report on our blog)
💫 Founder Resources
Upcoming Events
SF: May 22nd. AI Agent + Growth – Scaling from $0 to $15M ARR with Team 9. Join top AI founders from OpenArt, Mathos AI, Toolhouse, and Hachi AI as they unpack how they scaled to millions in ARR without paid ads. Learn tactical growth, conversion, and retention strategies that worked—plus enjoy dinner, drinks, and community. RSVP here.
NYC: May 23rd. Fashion & Creatives Mixer by ICON, 99 Yards, and SeedLegals. A mixer bringing together founders, designers, and builders from NYC’s fashion, design, and tech scenes during NYCxDesign. Come meet your next co-founder, developer, or creative collaborator. RSVP here.
SF: May 28th. Anna Piñol, Partner at NFX and expert in AI agents, joins Stanford's ETL series to share her journey from Amazon to co-founding Jupiter (YC S19) to investing in AI-driven marketplaces. RSVP here.
NYC: May 28th. FirstGen Founders: Powering American Dynamism. A gathering of immigrant and first-gen entrepreneurs building the next wave of American industries—defense, infrastructure, logistics, energy, and more. RSVP here.
Boston: May 29th. Kick off your day with coffee and connections at this breakfast for founders, funders, and ecosystem partners. Hosted by Foundess, Fidelity Private Shares, WomenX Innovators, and Sundai at High Street Place Food Hall. RSVP here.
NYC: May 29th. Hospitality Tech Networking Event. Connect with founders, funders, and operators shaping the future of hospitality tech. RSVP here.
NYC: May 29th. The Funding Map: Navigating Investor Expectations from Pre-Seed to Scale in Today’s Environment. VCs discuss evolving investor expectations from pre-seed to scale in 2025. RSVP here.
NYC: May 30th. Early-Stage B2B Founders & Funders Coffee Club with B Capital. Forum Ventures and B Capital are teaming up for a relaxed coffee meetup, bringing together early-stage investors and founders for a real connection, no pitches, no pressure. RSVP here.
Seattle: June 2nd. UnMuted: The Ambition Series x The Union x Cap Table Coalition. This happy hour brings together founders, funders, creatives, and community builders in Seattle who are shaping the future of business and culture. RSVP here.
NYC: June 4th. B2B Founders & Funders Breakfast for NY TechWeek. Kick off TechWeek with the B2B tech community, hosted by Insight, WeWork & Intercom. RSVP here.
NYC: June 7th. FEMHACK 2025: A 48-hour hackathon for female engineers, designers, marketers, and operators to build prototypes, GTM strategies, and investor-ready pitch decks. Hosted at Techstars NYC and culminating in a Female Founders & Funders Happy Hour. RSVP here.
Chicago: June 12th. A female founder-focused networking lunch and panel hosted by Fierce Foundry and AllRise Legal Counsel. Join for meaningful connections and a discussion on “Building the Female Founder Partner Stack” to scale your startup. RSVP here.
Grants, Programs & Accelerators
Vibe Coding Hackathon: $1M in prizes and a chance to make it into the Guiness Book of Records, this hackathon on May 30th is aiming to be the world’s biggest. Learn more here.
Forum Ventures Accelerator: offers $100K for 7.5% to early B2B SaaS startups with a 16-week remote program focused on growth, fundraising, and AI/health/fintech support. Apply here.
CO—100 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Honors the top 100 small businesses making an outsized impact on the American economy, with a $25,000 grand prize, includes a special category for Tech Innovators recognizing companies using new technologies to scale, enhance customer experience, or innovate. Apply here.
START by Digitalundivided (Winter 2025): A 3-week virtual incubator for idea-stage founders ready to turn bold concepts into viable businesses. Designed for underrepresented founders committed to building inclusive, scalable ventures. Join the waitlist here
Galaxy x Skip Grant: $5,000 for women- and minority-owned businesses to support growth or operations. Apply here by May 23.
Kirabo Equity Grant: $5K non-dilutive grant. Entrepreneurs from all industries are welcome to apply by May 30.
Good Soil Seed Capital Pitch (Wells Fargo): Up to $200,000 for early-stage founders in a national pitch competition spotlighting overlooked innovators. Apply by June 1.
Amazon AWS Imagine Grant: For nonprofits using cloud tech. Offers $200K cash + $100K AWS credits. Apply by June 3rd.
LA Chamber Wildfire Recovery Fund: Up to $25,000 for small businesses affected by LA’s January wildfires—covers damage, disruption, or rebuilds. Apply by June 6.
Blue Ridge Labs Founder Fellowship (Robin Hood): $20K stipend over 20 weeks. Validate idea, build MVP, get mentorship and coworking. Apply by June 8.
Techstars Economic Mobility Accelerator: Supports ventures increasing economic mobility for low- to moderate-income Americans. Apply by June 11.
Pathway to Opportunity Pitch Competition: Up to $10K for Black-owned businesses. Apply by June 9.
Verizon + MIT Solve Disaster Resilience Prize: $250K for innovative solutions working to improve disaster resilience in the U.S. Apply by Jun 13.
Warrior Rising Grant: Up to $20K for veteran entrepreneurs. Rolling deadline. Apply here.
HearstLab: Backing women-led tech startups with capital and hands-on support Seed & Series A investments in B2B/B2B2C companies across tech, healthcare, media, and more. Includes expert support, founder network, and workspace at Hearst Tower. Apply here
Resources
Is your team exploring AI tools? Lenny Rachitsky has an exclusive offer—get a year of his insights + a course to boost your AI knowledge, all in one. Check it out here.
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 $10k in AWS Activate cloud credits. Apply here and use our unique and org id 1cdwJ.
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!
Who’s Hiring?
Seven Starling is revolutionizing women's behavioral health through our clinically-validated virtual care platform. The team is hiring a Chief of Staff to report directly to the CEO, function as the right hand, with visibility into all aspects of company operations, strategic decision-making, and investor relations.
Culina Health is a digital health startup creating a new category for personalized and culturally responsive clinical nutrition care. Hiring for Partner Engagement Manger.
Loop (stealth): looking for a Lead Engineer with exceptionally strong experience in TypeScript / React / React Native and strong systems architecture chops. This is one of our most senior Technical hires.
Viva Benefits, a program that transforms renting into a more valuable experience for both landlords and tenants, is hiring a Sales Advisor (Part-Time Contractor, Remote).
ItsElectric, a revolutionary company that provides curbside charging for electric vehicles is hiring for multiple roles. Learn more and apply here.
Twelve, a Financial Management for Churches is hiring their Founding Engineer [Full Stack]. Learn more about the role and how to apply here.
Graham & Walker does two things: we support founders & we invest in founders. Wherever you are, we are here for you.
We invest in Silicon Valley’s biggest blindspots. If you’re an early stage tech company in North America ready to change the world, we want to meet you.