Female Founders Fund (F3) is a New York–based venture capital firm investing exclusively in women-led startups. Founded in 2014 by Anu Duggal, F3 was one of the first institutional funds to make a bet on the potential of female founders to build category-defining companies. The fund has carved out a distinct presence in the venture world by proving both the commercial and strategic value of investing in gender-diverse founding teams.
Female Founders Fund backs early-stage technology companies founded by women. The fund is sector-agnostic but has developed a strong presence in categories like consumer tech, digital health, fintech, and enterprise software.
Over time, F3 has also evolved to include more ambitious bets across mobility, aerospace, and emerging verticals.
In December 2025, Female Founders Fund closed its fourth core fund at $29 million. This fund was raised between November 2023 and late 2025 during a difficult macro environment. The close represents a key milestone not just for the firm, but for the broader category of emerging managers, especially solo female GPs.
LPs in this new fund include high-profile names like Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures, Olivia Walton’s Ingeborg Investments, and the Anne Wojcicki Foundation. With this raise, the firm has now reached $140 million in assets under management across five funds, including a $14 million opportunity fund.
The first investment out of Fund IV was 831 Stories, a romance publishing startup rethinking fan-driven book platforms. This new fund continues F3’s mission of funding female founders with early backing, now with a broader scope and a maturing portfolio approach.
Leadership
Female Founders Fund was founded by Anu Duggal, who remains the firm’s General Partner. A solo GP for over a decade, Duggal has built the fund’s reputation through high-touch founder relationships and a commitment to building a deep ecosystem around her portfolio.
Investment Strategy
F3 focuses on Pre-Seed and Seed rounds, often leading and taking board seats. The firm aims to be the first institutional check and builds long-term relationships through follow-on capital and community-building. Duggal places a strong emphasis on deal flow from the fund’s founder network, and LPs are often deeply connected to that same ecosystem. The strategy is focused, thesis-driven, and explicitly centered on backing female founders with a venture-scale vision.
Notable Investments
F3 has backed companies like Maven Clinic, the women’s health unicorn; Tala, a fintech company serving underbanked populations; and 831 Stories.
The portfolio also includes ventures across aerospace, mobility, SaaS, and retail tech, showing increasing breadth as the fund has matured.
Notable Exits
F3 has had three nine-figure exits to date:
In 2024, the firm returned its first fund, signaling strong performance and validating its investment thesis.
Other
F3 has become more than a fund, it’s a platform. The team hosts annual events, builds internal communities for female founders, and sources deal flow directly from its network. Duggal has publicly committed to deploying $500 million into female-founded companies over the next decade.
Founders should note that while F3 is still a small fund, it offers high access, strong brand equity in its space, and strategic support far beyond capital.
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