Minou Clark

📣 Female Tech Founders in NYC — New Accelerator Alert! Scale Ready Studio is a new 12-week, revenue-focused growth program for women building tech startups in NYC, created by Women.NYC in partnership with Get Sh!t Done. This program is designed to help founders scale sustainably through: - Revenue and profit growth - Strong systems and operations - Weekly strategy labs - Hybrid coaching (1:1 + group) - Technical assistance - In-person Founder Days The program culminates in a Deal Day, where participants pitch to a curated group of investors. 🗓 Applications close January 12

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In 2024, VC funding told the same old story: - Just 0.48% reached Black founders - Only 2.2% went to women founders - Founders of color? Still stuck below 2% 🌱 At the Labs, we're building a different future for tech–and it's more powerful and representative than ever. That’s why our 2025 Catalyst cohort looked like this: ✨ 78% of ventures are led by women ✨ 78% are led by founders of color These are leaders bringing deep lived experience, bold ideas, and the kind of insight that can reshape entire systems. While traditional venture capital often overlooks this brilliance, we’re investing in it—because equity isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s the smartest way to build better tech.

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I’m thrilled to officially announce our $3M seed investment in Propel People, a company we built inside the 1848 Ventures studio to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the #construction industry today: the skilled #labor shortage. For small and medium-sized contractors, hiring isn't just a challenge. It's the number one threat to their growth, profitability, and safety. With 94% of contractors struggling to find qualified workers, it’s clear that traditional hiring methods aren't built for the trades. That’s why we built Propel People. It’s a mobile-first, AI-powered hiring platform designed for how construction actually works: in the field. By leveraging smart candidate ranking, instant #SMS-based screening, and a fully #bilingual interface, Propel helps contractors build great crews faster and more efficiently. I’m also thrilled to formally announce that industry veteran Dexter Bachelder is at the helm as CEO. Having worked with Dexter and the team over the last few months, we've already seen the impact of his leadership. His 25 years of experience scaling construction tech companies will be instrumental as Propel People enters this initial stage of growth. This investment reinforces our core thesis at 1848 Ventures: building AI-native companies that solve fundamental pain points for the #SMBs that form the backbone of our economy. A huge congratulations to Dexter and the entire Propel People team on this milestone. We are incredibly proud to partner with you to support the people who build our world. Read the full announcement below. #constructiontech #venturecapital #seedfunding #ai #skilledtrades #smb

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Women’s health is one of the most important and under-addressed frontiers in healthcare. Proud to see IKI Health Group recognized by ScaleUp Labs and grateful to be part of a movement pushing innovation in this space. Through AI and data, we are building tools that help healthcare professionals better understand women’s metabolic and hormonal health — enabling more personalized and preventive care. The future of healthcare must be built around biology. And women deserve solutions designed for them. #WomensHealth #Femtech #DigitalHealth #HealthInnovation

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Year in Review: 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 2025 delivered major wins: product breakthroughs at Envisify, gained full ownership, network expansion as Fractional CEO, and Ambitio's growth alongside powerhouse women execs. The falls? They mattered just as much, shaping core values, resilience under fire, and standing taller after every hit. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 More bold learning (what others call "failures"), purpose-driven leadership, and relentless focus on scalability & innovation across business, friendships, and life. This morning, while listening to a podcast, one line stuck with me: 𝘼𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. Here's to 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse: fierce, unstoppable, ready to charge 🔥 #motivation #leadership #growth #innovation

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Black and Latino folks make up roughly 33% of the U.S. population — but account for less than 3% of funded tech founders, and receive under 2% of venture capital dollars.

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Peoplepath x Mana Tech Scaling Startups Starts with Scaling Talent Miami founders, you showed UP. Vision. Courage. Fire. And one shared question: “How do I build a recruiting model that actually scales with me?” Here’s the truth we anchored in this week at Scale2Miami: Your talent engine IS your growth engine. Your next milestone, product, and breakthrough, all built by your people. That’s why Peoplepath loves and partners with ManaTech to support founders with exactly what they need in their earliest (and craziest) stages: 🔥 A scalable recruiting model 🔥 A hiring strategy tied to your runway + milestones 🔥 A process that adapts fast, pivots fast, and always aligns to your vision 🔥 Access to top talent, globally From zero-to-one hires to building out GTM, tech, ops, and customer-facing teams across LATAM, the US, and Europe, we’ve lived this journey 100+ times. And we’re bringing it straight into the Miami ecosystem. Thank you, scale2miami founders. Your grit, your ambition, your clarity, this is what builds cities, industries, and movements. And Miami… you’re becoming the talent capital of the world. More to come. 🚀

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What's the biggest opportunity for entrepreneurs to use tech to grow their business today? And why is now such a special time for innovators? The ability to "vibecode" an idea into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is leveling the playing field. Historically, Black and Brown founders have been held back by funding gaps. Now, you can quickly build something, test it, and refine your customer base. Don't wait for perfection. Build it, put it out there, and learn. Your competition won't wait for you. #Entrepreneurship #TechInnovation #MVP #BlackFounders #BrownFounders #Startups

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Just 1.2% of the record $137 billion invested in US startups in the first half of 2021 went to Black entrepreneurs, and only 2% went to women-founded companies, according to a blog post from Crunchbase. If you aren't familiar with the challenges...

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🎙️ Hart and Hustle Preview Catch a quick preview of our upcoming episode with Jeannine L. Lisitski, Ph.D., President and CEO from Mental Health Partnerships! In this clip, Jeannine shares her unique perspective on recognizing your worth despite life's challenges, giving you a taste of what's to come. Expect an insightful discussion on building resilience through trauma, implementing AI in mental health services while maintaining human connection, and why "it's all of us, not them" when it comes to needing support, along with a dash of her personality that'll keep you hooked. 🎧 Tune in on 7/25 at 9AM CST for the full episode! You won't want to miss it. #PodcastPreview #HartandHustle #ComingSoon

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Mentorship compounds. Especially for early stage women founders. On March 19 in New York, 2M Mentors Live is hosting its 4th annual event in partnership with DVF, focused on expanding access to meaningful mentorship and capital for strong early stage founders. Selected founders will receive: • A high-impact mentorship day • Curated mentor circles aligned to their needs • An opportunity to participate in a founder showcase Learn more and apply here by February 20: https://lnkd.in/eD-nawTn Access matters, and rooms like this can change a founder’s trajectory.

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Today we officially kick off our $2M pre seed round for Salubrum (Backed by Forum Ventures), supported by Forum Ventures, Coeus Collective Ventures, and Draper House Americas. Healthcare companies spend over $30B a year trying to acquire patients. The problem is not media. The problem is timing. Every time a patient approaches a healthcare decision a moment opens. Which doctor to see. Which procedure to pursue. Which treatment to start. For the companies involved in that decision, knowing that moment exists is incredibly valuable. Salubrum (Backed by Forum Ventures) is building the intelligence layer that maps those decision moments across the U.S. patient population. Our system aggregates large healthcare datasets covering 300M+ patient identities and uses them to predict when individuals are approaching important healthcare decisions. That signal can then be used by providers, pharma companies, payers, and other healthcare organizations trying to reach patients at the right time. Our first wedge is patient acquisition for healthcare providers and brands, but the underlying intelligence layer has much broader applications wherever patient behavior influences economic decisions. Over the past months we have quietly built the foundation. • Early pilots validating our patient intent scoring system • Distribution partnerships forming across healthcare platforms • Backed by Forum Ventures, Coeus Collective Ventures, Draper House Americas, NEXT Canada and Metta World Peace Starting tomorrow we will be meeting investors as part of the Forum Ventures showcase. If you are an investor interested in building with us get in touch. Calendly: https://lnkd.in/e5j-VvGC Investor Memo: https://lnkd.in/e5HyemAp

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🔥 Menopause is literally hot — and the silence around it is over. 🎙️ New Episode Out Now! Joanna Strober, Founder & CEO of Midi Health Joanna goes deep with HumanizeHer on what every woman (and the people who love us) should know about perimenopause, menopause, and proactive care. ✨ In this episode, you’ll learn: 💤 Why estrogen changes drive sleep issues, anxiety, brain fog, weight shifts, skin & hair changes — and what to do about it 💊 The difference between birth control hormones and menopause-appropriate HRT (and why dosing matters) 🌿 Non-hormonal options (supplements + prescriptions) when HRT isn’t a fit 💻 How Midi Health built access at scale: insurance coverage and visits often in 1–2 weeks 🩸 A peek at proactive care: at-home blood testing + personalized protocols - game changer I can't wait to try! 🙋‍♀️ I’m a Midi user myself — HRT (estrogen + progesterone) has been a life upgrade. If you’ve felt “off” and couldn’t name it… this conversation is your starting line. #HumanizeHer #JoannaStrober #MidiHealth #Menopause #Perimenopause #WomensHealth #HRT #ProactiveHealth #Sleep #BrainFog #HealthTech #FemaleFounders

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What happens when a founder is surrounded by something "really rare"? Sam Gardner, CEO of Happypillar, joined our Spring 2025 Fellowship with two big goals: 1️⃣ Strengthen the research behind her tech. 2️⃣ Find scalable pathways to help more families. Like many innovators in child & family health, she needed support in validating their innovation and gaining traction in complex systems like Medicaid and early interventions. That’s where the Innovation Hub stepped in with 40+ hours of 1:1 support from experts in research, clinical practice, and policy at the Thrive Center at Georgetown University. Here’s how Sam described the experience: “I’m walking away, not just with insight and accountability, but truly with collaborators and friends. That part feels really meaningful—and honestly, really rare.” She also left the program with evidence that Happypillar’s model shows promise comparable to traditional, in-person interventions. That’s a big step toward scale and proof that founders don’t have to do this alone. Want help in taking your startup from promise to proof? Applications for our Fall 2025 Fellowship are open now (link below in comments).

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New partnership alert!! Excited to announce that Black Flag is partnering with xAI to give founders free credits and direct access to Grok - xAI’s family of powerful, multi-modal, real-time models. Across essentially any end product you're applying to Black Flag with, Grok will deliver: - Deep reasoning across text, code, and context - Faster inference and improved function calling - CUI: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth just announced that Grok is being adopted for handling Controlled Unclassified Information If you're building in critical technology areas important to the West - space, energy, autonomy, cyber - the next generation of secure software will be built with Grok and you can now get a head start through Black Flag. Only 18 days left to apply to Black Flag’s January batch - apply at the link in the comments!

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I rarely post, but from personal experience in the Robin Hood Foundation ecosystem — Blue Ridge Labs is life-changing for the right early-stage, mission-driven founders. If you're serious about a creating a business with real impact, it's definitely worth exploring. Applications close May 3.

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Every entrepreneur knows that success isn’t just about present goals, it’s about dreaming big and building for the long term. Black entrepreneurship is powered by vision and community, and these founders are proof of that. BOF Catalyst x Black Founders Network BFN Scale is a program designed to reflect the diversity of Black innovation, from emerging tech to creative enterprises, bringing together bold, community-driven ideas that are ready to scale. In this video, hear from the founders of BeBlended, BioBox Analytics, Chef Hassan’s Kitchen, HelloHair, Hutsy, Kare Chemical Technologies, Maid in Luxury, and Stush Patties as they share where they see their businesses in the next ten years. Get to know these changemakers shaping the future of Black entrepreneurship and see how they’re redefining what growth and longevity look like. BOF Catalyst x BFN Scale isn’t just about building stronger businesses - t’s about building stronger leaders, and by extension, stronger communities for decades to come. #WeBackBlack #BlackExcellence #BlackEntrepreneurs #BOFCatalystXBFNScale

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Really loved this conversation with Burt Brooks of PathAble AI. Listen in as we geek out on the power of AI to make real change in our care systems. 🧡 ✨ 🧡 ✨ 🧡 ✨ 🧡 ✨ 🧡✨ Also have to add that "What happens when a sister's love becomes a startup?" may be my favorite framing of Eleplan yet.

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