Alice, a Houston and San Francisco-based free platform that guides business owners through the growth of their company, raised a Series A funding round of undisclosed amount.
Backers included Bumble and Serena Ventures, which joined SVB Financial Group, Silicon Valley Bank’s holding company, as lead, as well as Cathie Reid, Jean Case, Phyllis Newhouse, Shatter Fund, and Signia Venture Partners.
Founded by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, Alice aims to ensure every founder, no matter their background, has the opportunity to launch and scale. Together, Alice, Bumble, and Serena Ventures, led by Serena Williams, will provide access to critical growth resources, guidance, and small business opportunities for everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.
The company is aggregating a comprehensive set of SMB trend analysis and insights, supporting its goal of removing barriers to vital resources that women, people of color, veterans, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs face when launching businesses.
With a community of over 100,000 companies in all 50 states and across the globe, Alice is building a large network of owners in the country while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs. Partners include enterprise business services, government agencies, and institutions looking to serve small- and medium-business owners.
Integral to the raise is a #MeToo morality clause, which ensures Alice board members and voting stockholders are held accountable for choices that could affect Alice’s workforce and community of over 100,000 business owners. The clause requires stockholders to use corporate governance mechanisms to vote for removal of any board member in the event of a #MeToo event, racial discrimination, and/or sexual orientation discrimination incident.
Serena Williams and Whitney Wolfe Herd are joining together with Alice founders Gore and Rodz.
FinSMEs
12/12/2019