Atlanta Investment Firm Founder Elaine Prescott Champions Women-Led Startup Fund

Elaine Prescott's Atlanta-based venture capital firm, Ashwood Capital South, closed a $70 million fund this month dedicated exclusively to women-led startups across the Southeast, one of the largest funds of its kind based in Georgia.

Prescott founded Ashwood Capital South nine years ago after spending the earlier part of her career at larger investment firms where she says she rarely saw female founders make it past early pitch meetings. The firm's new fund will focus primarily on seed and Series A investments in healthcare technology, financial services, and consumer products companies led by women founders.

"I sat through years of partner meetings where a female founder's pitch got picked apart for 'execution risk' in ways I never saw applied to male founders pitching an equally early-stage idea," Prescott said. "This fund isn't charity. It's a bet that we've been systematically underpricing a huge pool of talent, and that bet has already paid off in our earlier, smaller funds."

Ashwood Capital South's two prior funds, both smaller than the new vehicle, have backed 30 companies to date, three of which have since been acquired by larger firms. Prescott says the new fund's size will allow the firm to write larger initial checks and follow-on investments, reducing the need for portfolio companies to bring in outside lead investors as early in their growth.

The firm says it has already committed roughly $16 million of the new fund to five companies, including two based in Georgia.