Women Crushing It: Six Entrepreneurs and Their Stories

The entrepreneurial landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the vision and tenacity of female founders. As a leading venture capital firm, Alumni Ventures is not just observing this shift — we are actively shaping it by backing the most promising female-led companies. In this blog, we are proud to spotlight five extraordinary ventures, each founded and led by women who are not only disrupting their respective industries, but also setting new benchmarks for success.

Each of these companies has secured a coveted place on our Women’s Fund 20 list — an elite distinction awarded to the top performers among the hundreds of companies in the AV portfolio. They represent the pinnacle of innovation, leadership, and market potential. These are not just success stories; they are powerful testaments to the future of entrepreneurship.

Let’s explore what makes these Women’s Fund companies such compelling investments and why we are honored to partner with them.

Gökçe Güven: Turning Loyalty Into Revenue

Gokce Guven, CEO and founder of Kalder, is revolutionizing loyalty programs by transforming them into direct revenue streams for brands. With experience at Robinhood, OpenSea, and Celo, she brings deep fintech expertise. Kalder’s white-label rewards platform allows businesses to create partner cashback programs where customers earn automatic rewards while shopping at participating stores.

What makes Gokce’s approach impressive is that it eliminates the traditional complexity and cost of loyalty programs, turning them into profitable acquisition and retention tools. By enabling brands to earn commissions on partner sales, Kalder not only boosts customer engagement but also generates consistent revenue. With soaring customer acquisition costs, Kalder provides a much-needed solution for brands to deepen customer relationships efficiently. The platform’s seamless payment network integrations and data-driven insights further enhance its value. With $10.5M in funding and major brands like Godiva onboard, Gokce’s leadership is setting a new standard for how businesses monetize loyalty, positioning Kalder as a game-changer in the industry.

Kalder’s inclusion in the Women’s Fund 20 list highlights its potential to reshape customer engagement in the digital age. This is a company that understands the future of loyalty, and we’re thrilled to be a part of its journey.

Jay Graber: Leading the Decentralized Social Media Revolution

Jay Graber is redefining online communication with Bluesky, a decentralized social network built on the AT Protocol. With a background in blockchain and open-source systems, she was selected by Twitter to lead Bluesky before spinning it out as an independent public benefit corporation in 2021. Her vision: To create a platform where users control their data, developers can build freely, and social networking is no longer bound by a single corporate entity.

Under Graber’s leadership, Bluesky has rapidly gained traction, emerging as a major alternative to X (formerly Twitter). Growing from 13 million users in October 2024 to over 30 million in January 2025, it offers a transparent, customizable experience — free from centralized algorithmic control. Users can build their own content feeds, while developers benefit from Bluesky’s open infrastructure. The platform has raised $36 million across three funding rounds since early 2023, fueling its expansion as a leading force in decentralized social media.

Bluesky’s Women’s Fund 20 recognition reflects its role in shaping the next era of social networking. More than just a platform, it represents a movement toward a freer, user-driven internet — one that is finally breaking away from traditional gatekeepers.

Kate Rosenbluth: Innovating Bioelectronic Medicine

Kate Rosenbluth is pioneering a new frontier in bioelectronic medicine with Cala Health, a company revolutionizing treatment for neurological disorders. As an engineer and neuroscientist with experience at Genentech, UCSF Neurosurgery, and Stanford Biodesign, she founded Cala Health to develop non-invasive neurostimulation therapies for chronic diseases. The company’s flagship Cala kIQ System uses TAPS Therapy, the only FDA-cleared wearable for action hand tremor relief in essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson’s disease.

With over 7 million people in the U.S. affected by ET, treatment options have long been limited to drugs with harsh side effects or invasive surgeries like Deep Brain Stimulation. Cala Health offers an alternative: a clinician-prescribed, non-invasive device that personalizes nerve stimulation to counteract tremors. Backed by $227 million in funding, the company is expanding access to its therapy, with Medicare coverage and strong clinical evidence supporting its efficacy.

Cala Health’s Women’s Fund 20 recognition underscores its groundbreaking approach to neurological care. More than just a medtech company, it’s restoring independence and improving lives.

Ashi Dissanayake: Enabling In-Space Refueling

Ashi Dissanayake, Co-founder of Spaceium, is revolutionizing space travel by developing in-space refueling technology. Spacecraft today must carry all their fuel from launch, limiting mission duration and contributing to space debris. Spaceium aims to solve this by creating refueling stations in orbit, allowing spacecraft to dock, refuel, and continue their missions — critical for deep-space exploration and future colonization efforts.

Despite competition from Orbit Fab and Astroscale, Spaceium’s breakthrough fuel storage system gives them a strategic edge. The company’s upcoming demo mission will showcase their capabilities, with a growing pipeline of customers eager for in-space refueling solutions. We see Spaceium as a high-potential bet on the future of space infrastructure, paving the way for a sustainable and scalable space economy.

Spaceium’s inclusion in the Women’s Fund 20 highlights its innovative approach to space travel and its potential to develop a space super highway, owning the way in which spacecraft dock, refill, and travel.

Amogha Tadimety and Alison Burkland: Disrupting Molecular Diagnostics

Amogha Tadimety and Alison Burkland, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Nanopath, are revolutionizing molecular diagnostics with a focus on women’s health. Alison and Amogha met at Dartmouth during their PhD programs. Nanopath’s platform rapidly identifies DNA and RNA without nucleic acid amplification technology (NAAT), delivering precise results in just 15 minutes — far faster than traditional PCR tests. This innovation enables real-time, in-office diagnosis of infections like HPV and UTIs, reducing delays in treatment and improving patient outcomes.

Backed by $15 million in funding, including $4 million in federal grants, their vision is to make point-of-care diagnostics the standard in gynecologic healthcare.  If successful, Nanopath’s approach could disrupt the conventional diagnostic industry and redefine women’s healthcare.

Nanopath’s inclusion in the Women’s Fund 20 highlights its innovative approach to the diagnostics industry and its potential to deliver rapid, accurate molecular diagnostics for a vast market.

The Women’s Fund 20: A Testament to Excellence

The selection of these five companies for our Women’s Fund 20 is not arbitrary. It is a rigorous process that involves evaluating over hundreds of companies based on key performance indicators, market potential, and overall impact. These companies represent the cream of the crop, the ventures that we believe are poised for exponential growth and are most likely to deliver exceptional returns.

As a firm, we are deeply committed to supporting female entrepreneurs and fostering a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. These five companies are shining examples of the incredible talent and innovation that women bring to the table. We are immensely proud to be partners with these visionary leaders and to play a role in their continued success. Their achievements are not just a win for them; they are a win for our portfolio, the industry, and the future of innovation. They are a big part of our present success, and we are proud to have them as partners.

This communication is from Alumni Ventures, a for-profit venture capital company that is not affiliated with or endorsed by any school. It is not personalized advice, and AV only provides advice to its client funds. This communication is neither an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any security. Such offers are made only pursuant to the formal offering documents for the fund(s) concerned, and describe significant risks and other material information that should be carefully considered before investing. For additional information, please see here. Example portfolio companies are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of any AV fund or the outcomes experienced by any investor. Example portfolio companies shown are not available to future investors, except potentially in the case of follow-on investments. Venture capital investing involves substantial risk, including risk of loss of all capital invested. This communication includes forward-looking statements, generally consisting of any statement pertaining to any issue other than historical fact, including without limitation predictions, financial projections, the anticipated results of the execution of any plan or strategy, the expectation or belief of the speaker, or other events or circumstances to exist in the future. Forward-looking statements are not representations of actual fact, depend on certain assumptions that may not be realized, and are not guaranteed to occur. Any forward-looking statements included in this communication speak only as of the date of the communication. AV and its affiliates disclaim any obligation to update, amend, or alter such forward-looking statements, whether due to subsequent events, new information, or otherwise.