Women Backing Women: Investor Laura Rippy

April 16, 2019

Natasha Zena

2 Min Read

This month we’re celebrating women backing women. We’re introducing you to women investors who are getting behind female entrepreneurs and their innovative ideas.

Laura Rippy

WHO I AM:

I am the Managing Partner for Green D Ventures and the Executive Partner for the Boston office of AVG. I bring an operational and unique perspective as a prior CEO, Chairman, and executive in technology startups. I’ve worked across many tech sectors: mobile, consumer, internet, SaaS, cloud-based, marketing & enterprise software.

SOME COMPANIES WE’VE BACKED:

Compass Therapeutics is a leading solution for automated management reports and benchmarks for small and medium-sized online businesses. The Chief Business Officer is Vered Bisker-Leib and the CFO is Lynne Sullivan.
RealSelf, the leading marketplace for the medical aesthetics market, with Lara Devgan, as the Chief Medical Officer.
Paloma, an early stage software startup helping brands manage and grow their messaging channels at scale, led by founder and CEO Kelsey Hunter.

WHY I INVEST IN WOMEN:

As a former startup CEO, when only 4% of VC went to companies with women leaders, I saw why women have an advantage as leaders in a crowded marketplace. Women CEOs tend to attract more diverse teams, and that leads to greater innovation in my experience. As a bonus, female CEOs stand out and are memorable in a market for capital and business press attention. We have a few (non-public) recent investments in female leaders, and I’m excited to meet more.

MY TIP FOR WOMEN SEEKING INVESTMENT:

Remember the Eleanor Roosevelt quote: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

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Natasha Zena

Around age eight Natasha Zena was told it was a woman’s job to take care of the home and since then she has built a career out of telling women they can do whatever the hell they want to do. She is the co-founder of Lioness, the go-to news source for everything female entrepreneur. Natasha was recognized as an emerging leader in digital media by The Poynter Institute and the National Association of Black Journalists. She has mentored women entrepreneurs and moderated panels at a number of national accelerators, Startup Weekends and conferences such as The Lean Startup Conference, the Massachusetts Conference for Women, Women Empower Expo and Smart Cities Connect. Natasha is also the author of the popular whitepaper, "How To Close The Gender Gap In Startup Land By 2021." In her spare time, she writes short fiction and hangs out with her son, Shaun.