Tennis star Serena Williams may be stepping off the court, but she isn’t done working. She’s doubling down on helping women and BIPOC entrepreneurs raise capital through her VC firm—including a Canadian fashion software start-up.
In a recent Vogue essay, the 23-time Grand Slam champion revealed that she would be retiring from tennis to focus on motherhood and her VC firm, Serena Ventures. Williams started her women-led firm in 2014 to primarily back diverse and early-stage tech founders: About 78 per cent of Serena Ventures’ portfolio is companies started by women and people of colour—something Williams is intentional about after learning that just two per cent of VC dollars go to women.
One of those companies is Calico. This March, Serena Ventures led the $2.6-million seed round for Toronto-based start-up, which was founded by Kathleen Chan in 2020. Calico helps…
