Even in a low signal week, there are bright lights.
Nearly $105 million in investments in women-owned and led companies were reported this week — in regenerative medicine, private fertility insurance (category creator), SaaS tech, and — pause for effect — Oregon craft wine.
Also in this week’s issue, an Ohio-based investor collective focused on women-led startups and a woman-owned cybersecurity firm with a $300 million valuation.
Scroll on to browse this week’s capital signals, Founders Amplified, investor quote of the week.
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
Issue #04 | Tuesday, April 14, 2026
📶 Capital Signal
The biggest stories about women and capital this week
HexemBio raises $10.4M seed round for blood stem cell rejuvenation therapy
HexemBio (Samira Kiani) has raised $10.4 million in seed funding led by Draper Associates. The company is developing a regenerative medicine platform to rejuvenate aging blood stem cells, with its lead program targeting bone marrow transplant outcomes and already receiving FDA Orphan Drug Designation ahead of planned human trials in 2027. — Pulse 2.0, April 11, 2026 (Amit Chowdhry)
Flora Fertility raises $5M seed round to build fertility insurance platform
Flora Fertility (Laura McDonald and Dr. Christy Lane) has raised a $5 million seed round led by ManchesterStory. The company is building an individually owned and fully portable fertility insurance platform, targeting a market where treatment costs range from $30,000–$50,000 and fewer than 2% of patients can currently afford care. — PR Newswire, April 10, 2026
Central Ohio’s Accelerating Angels grows membership and portfolio
Accelerating Angels (Cindi Englefield and Mary McCarthy) — a women-led Ohio-based investment collective — has grown its membership to 46 and deployed funds into eight women-owned startups — after finalizing their first fund at $2M in the fall. — Columbus Business First, April 8, 2026 (Carrie Ghose)
Modus raises $85M across Seed and Series A for AI-driven audit platform
Modus (Lin Ling) has raised $85 million across Seed and Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company is building an AI-native audit platform designed to automate complex accounting workflows and improve audit quality and efficiency. — The SaaS News, April 8, 2026 (Kay Aloha Villamor)
AI-powered cybersecurity company, Remedio, valued at $300 million
Remedio (Tal Kollender) — a cybersecurity company leveraging AI to identify and remediate software vulnerabilities — is now valued at more than $300 million. Kollender’s company raised a $60 million Series A in September 2025 led by Bessemer Venture Partners, underscoring the scale of opportunity in enterprise security solutions. — The Business Journals (Bizwomen), April 7, 2026 (Cindy Barth)
Anthropic eyes $200M joint venture to bring AI into private equity portfolios
Anthropic (Daniela Amodei) is reportedly planning a $200 million joint venture with firms including Blackstone to embed its Claude AI models into portfolio company operations, expanding AI’s role inside private equity-backed businesses. — Tech Funding News, April 7, 2026 (Sofia Chesnokova)
JPalmer Collective invests $4 million in Dobbes Family Winery expansion
JPalmer Collective (Jennifer Palmer) — an asset-based lending firm focused on funding high-growth, women-led companies — has invested $4 million in Wine By Joe / Dobbes Family Winery (Kari Mahe) continuing its strategy of backing founder-led consumer brands with strong regional roots and expansion potential. — ABF Journal, April 7, 2026 (Rita Garwood)
Ridge AI raises $2.6M pre-seed to build embedded analytics for SaaS platforms
Ridge AI (Ellie Fields) has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Madrona, with participation from a group of prominent angel investors including Tableau and AI industry leaders. The company is developing an AI-powered platform that enables SaaS companies to embed interactive dashboards and data agents directly into their products, reducing analytics build time from months to hours. — GeekWire, April 6, 2026 (Todd Bishop)
⚡️ Founder(s) Amplified
High-signal woman founders building momentum
The Win: Flora Fertility brings awareness to their funding story
Laura McDonald and Dr. Christy Lane — hailing from Calgary — are at the helm of the first ever individually owned and fully portable fertility insurance — Flora. After a $5 million seed round led by Manchester Story, they issued an official press release sharing the financial details of the investment, their credibility as founders, and the significance of this emerging category.
“Fertility has always been treated as unpredictable and uninsurable ... the earlier someone can access that coverage, the better their outcomes and the lower their costs - which is what makes this model so powerful. We’re turning fertility from a reactive medical expense into a proactive, data-driven financial decision.”
Signal Breakdown:
Flora’s news release caused a splash of activity in niche news outlets — HR, tech, insurance.
Post release, the two founders shared the announcement on LinkedIn with their own commentary, guested on podcasts, and earned a feature story in The Insurer.
While the funding announcement was not picked up in VC native outlets this week, all of this activity signals healthy momentum for the business.
Flora is a category creator. They are a first of its kind offering to families navigating fertility — well before they need to think about it.
Building momentum in a new sector is hard. They are doing the work.
"Flora is building something that has never existed before — affordable, portable fertility insurance that meets the next generation of women exactly where they are. The InsurTech opportunity here is enormous, and the Flora team has the expertise, technology, and vision to define this category."
💬 Investor Speak
Notable commentary from women in venture capital
Adjacent to her firm’s announcement of their 100th investment in a portfolio that is 100% female-founded…
“We were very much underestimated in the beginning but people are paying attention now. To all of you out there raising funds, just keep working towards your goals. Put one step in front of the next. And don't get me wrong, we still have a lot to do.”
🎬 Signing Off
That’s a wrap on issue #04.
WINS LIST tracks the signals shaping venture outcomes for women founders.
We are not just following the top stories. We are trend spotting and amplifying founders who showcase credibility, capability, market, proof, and momentum.
We are unboxing investor perspectives and framing 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 Tuesday.
— WINS LIST
