Mother Ventures closes $10M fund to back mom-focused startups

Allison Stern has closed $10 million in commitments for her debut early-stage fund, Mother Ventures. The fund focuses on the U.S. mother as a consumer, a demographic Stern describes as a unique economic engine. According to Stern, mothers in the U.S. are responsible for 85% of household purchases and hold $2.4 trillion in spending power. Rather than viewing motherhood as a narrow niche, the fund treats it as a broad consumer category. “It’s a consumer fund, and focus on the mom as the consumer allows us to be wider in our bets,” Stern said.

Since launching Mother Ventures two years ago, Stern has deployed $4 million into 13 startups. The current portfolio includes Coral Care, which allows booking pediatric specialists for children with developmental delays, and Tin Can, a Wi-Fi-enabled landline designed as a retro-style phone for kids. Stern’s investment thesis is built on the idea that millennial and Gen Z mothers require a distinct set of digital and physical products. This includes on-demand transportation services like Zum, ready-meal delivery from DoorDash, and fintech tools like Greenlight, which allows parents to fund children’s debit cards.

Before launching Mother Ventures, Stern co-founded Tubular Labs, a social video analytics startup that she helped grow to $25 million in annual recurring revenue before its acquisition in 2023. She also served as an operating partner at The Chernin Group, a consumer-focused growth equity firm—a type of private equity investment that targets expanding companies. At The Chernin Group, Stern worked with investment strategies focused on overlooked audiences with spending power, such as the firm’s backing of Barstool Sports. For her new fund, Stern secured Tony James, the former president and chief operating officer of Blackstone and current board chair of Costco, as an anchor LP, which is the primary investor in a venture fund. Other backers of Mother Ventures include Jessica Rolph, the founder of child development startup Lovevery, alongside female executives from Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Sesame Street.

Why it matters

Allison Stern identified mothers as an underserved market with significant spending power, positioning her fund to capture returns by backing companies that cater to this specific demographic.