Lowkey Legends, Highkey Raises
$2B Seed for Mira Murati’s AI lab, $20M for Smart Hydration Stations, Gen Z CMO Scaling UGC to a Billion Views, & Top Opportunities for Women Trying to Break Into Startups
This is WWV Labs’ weekly newsletter: Her Hustle, a place to learn all about the new and the next in female entrepreneurship, and we’re here to help you dive into it. We highlight all the fierce women who are building startups—from those launching from dorm rooms and balancing classes to recent grads and experienced professionals turning their bold visions into reality.
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Happy Friday!
I can’t believe I’ll be moving across the Atlantic to Amsterdam in just four days — what an exciting time to explore a new community of female students and builders.
If you have any contacts in the European female entrepreneurship ecosystem, I’d love to connect. Feel free to DM me with any recs!
Cristina Gnecco, Co-Founder of HOPE Hydration, a startup building a network of free water refill stations, raised $20M in Series A funding led by Pentair.
Céline Vallot, Co-Founder of One Biosciences, a Paris-based AI-driven oncology solutions company, raised €15M in Series A funding led by Redmile Group and Blast.
Irina Denisenko, CEO of Knox, a FedRAMP-as-a-service platform provider, raised $6.5M in seed funding led by Felicis.
Stefanie Francis, Founder & CEO of Hootology, a NYC-based market research platform, raised $1.1M in pre-seed funding led by JAD Family Revocable Trust.
Winnie Lai, Founder & CEO of Auriga Space, a US-based aerospace startup specializing in electromagnetic propulsion technology, raised $6M in seed funding led by OTB Ventures.
Chelsea Border, Co-Founder of AirGarage, a parking management startup, raised $23M in Series B funding led by Headline Growth.
Leila Jaafar, Founder & CEO of Nuclidium, a radiopharmaceuticals company for cancer diagnosis and treatment, raised CHF 79M in Series B funding led by Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund, Angelini Ventures, Wellington Partners, and Neva SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group).
Mira Murati, Founder of Thinking Machines Lab, an applied AI research company, raised $2 billion in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z.
Julie Zhuo, Co-Founder of Sundial, a platform that helps businesses make data-driven decisions through AI-powered analytics, raised $23M in Series A funding mainly led by GreatPoint Ventures (GPV).
Clara Stephenson, Founder of Solence, a Paris-based AI-driven health startup focused on treatments for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, raised €1.6M ($1.87M) in seed funding led by Impact Shakers.
July 25 | 🚀 Women Founders Network: Invest In: Your Journey as a Founder (San Antonio)
July 31 | 👩💻 Women in Tech (NYC)
August 4 | 🎉 Internapalooza (SF)
October 15-16 | 🌍 Women’s Health Horizons USA (Boston)
Hosting an event for women in entrepreneurship?
Share the details with WWV Labs Her Hustle’s community by filling out this form!
Melanie Fan spotlighted 10 powerhouse female founders—from AI to food tech—quietly dominating SF’s startup scene and proving the best innovators do not follow the corporate script.
Katie Xu joined Cluely as Head of Marketing straight out of Duke—and is looking to scaling UGC to 1B+ views.
Stanford GSB grad Erin Barrett just launched Goldilocks, a 5% ABV cocktail brand with only 84 calories and 2.8g of sugar—blending real spirits with ingredients found in Olipop and LiquidIV.
Megan Lieu shared how her CEO told her not to post team photos to hide the fact she was the only woman at the company—spotlighting how far tech still has to go on representation in spaces shaping the future.
Elise Pham shared her story of bootstrapping Ultimate Ivy League Guide to $1M+ in revenue and 1.4M+ followers in just 18 months—scaling to $500K/month and a 15-person team while helping first-gen students get into every top college.
Progyny is teaming up with ŌURA to bring wearable data into fertility and menopause care—helping women track health goals and risks from preconception to postmenopause.
USC student Miki S-Y turned down top internships to go all in on Veyra Health—already catching thousands in billing errors weekly and helping patients fight back against overpriced medical bill
💁♀️ Are you a female student or recent graduate who wants to work at a startup? Apply to WWV Labs Fellowship Program to find ad hoc projects, term-time internships, summer internships, or full-time employment opportunities at startups!
Join our community of 1,000+ fellows from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Columbia, UPenn, UC Berkeley, and other top universities today!
👩💻 Daniela Andrade dropped a curated list of 15+ recently funded, female-founded startups actively hiring for women seeking roles at high growth, female-founded startups!
🚀 Company Ventures’ Grand Central Tech Residency is open for applications until July 23! Whether you’re pre-idea or seed-stage, get rent-free space, expert programming, and capital to launch your startup. Apply now!
🧪 La Creme de la STEM™ is the only global, private network for early-stage female founders in tech and science. Apply here to secure your spot as a Founding Member and enjoy exclusive benefits!
💰 Apply for the IFundWomen Universal Grant! With just one application, you’ll be considered for multiple grant opportunities throughout the year—designed specifically for women entrepreneurs at all stages. Funding amounts vary by partner, with awards often ranging from $2,500 to $25,000+. Click here and get your venture in the running!
🌉 Rachel Zhang is hosting a Founder House SF (July 28–Aug 4) bringing together 12–14 young founders from Europe and beyond to build, BBQ, and bridge startup networks—cheap, curated, and packed with startup energy.
🚀 One of VITALIZE VC’s fast-growing portfolio companies is hiring a Head of Partnerships—location flexible (Atlanta, LA, or remote US). Must have prior experience leading partnerships at a tech startup. DM Gale Wilkinson for more info or an intro.
🚨 5 buzzy startups—including Apollo Bagels, Jake Paul’s W brand, and Loyalist—are hiring for roles like Chief of Staff, Social Media Manager, and Software Engineer. NYC, LA, and remote roles available.
📊 Accountalent, the leading tax and accounting firms for over 5,000 startups, has offered to file 2024 taxes for any undergraduate female-founded and managed startup corporation totally free of charge. This includes filing the Federal and State corporate tax returns, DE Franchise tax return, Form 1099s, consulting on tax matters, etc. It also includes preparing 2024 financial statements.
Joe Faris, CPA, founder of Accountalent has conducted Office Hours for many years at Harvard, MIT and UChicago and has worked with hundreds of female founders, including many foreign founders. Feel free to email him or make an appointment on his online calendar to redeem this perk or if you have any tax questions:
Joe Faris, CPA, jfaris@accountalent.com, Online Calendar: https://calendly.com/joefaris
🧘♀️ Fempower Health just dropped The Health of Women Playbook—a data-packed resource decoding women’s health trends and insights to help founders, operators, and investors build smarter in femtech.
🚀 Share this newsletter with a friend and start growing your network.
💁♀️ Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily insights on women in entrepreneurship.
📈 Partner with WWV Labs if you are a startup interested in hiring top female talent.
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I hope you enjoyed this newsletter, Hustlers!
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Love,
Daniela & The WWV Labs Team