Jenelle Pierce's Colleagues at The JumpFund
Jenelle Pierce's Contact Details
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Chattanooga, Tennessee
The JumpFund
Jenelle Pierce's Company Details
The JumpFund is a women-led micro VC firm investing in female-led ventures across the Southeast U.S. Our investors and fund partners understand that investments in early stage ventures led by women have greater potential to produce higher returns and are historically underfunded. Since its founding in 2013, the JumpFund has helped change the conversation in our regional start-up ecosystem and exponentially increased investment in female entrepreneurs and gender diverse teams. With $7.7mm under management, the JumpFund has invested in 22 companies and has had one company successfully exit. Our investments and portfolio company partnerships have also leveraged over 19x additional capital from co-investors for our portfolio companies. The JumpFund was founded on the assumption that there is an untapped market opportunity for early stage investors to seek and fund women-led ventures which have had less access to capital for growth. Strong data now indicates that women-led companies are outperforming their all male counterparts in VC portfolios (First Round Capital, 2015). Also, as women engage more as active angel investors, they are making a significant difference in the growth and success of women-led ventures (HBR, 2016). From an economic standpoint, women are an undervalued sector of potential entrepreneurs that make over 80% of the consumer purchasing decisions (including healthcare and electronics) and represent 60% of those with advanced degrees. The JumpFund has also encouraged more women to become "angel" investors, helping to diversify the investor landscape and grow women's access to capital. With over 80 investors, the majority of which are female, we are contributing to the growing number of women-led firms focused on "gender lens" investing.