HearstLab

What is HearstLab?

HearstLab is a corporate venture fund with a strategic mission to invest in early-stage, women-led technology startups in North America. They focus on sectors including enterprise technology, data analytics, fintech, healthcare, media, and transportation, emphasizing B2B business models.

HearstLab's investment range spans from $100,000 to $1,000,000, with a 'sweet spot' of around $500,000, particularly in Seed, Early Stage, Series A, and Pre-seed funding rounds. As an investor, HearstLab differs from traditional venture firms and incubators by taking a founder-first approach, offering long-term support for the development of sustainable and profitable businesses.

This approach extends beyond providing capital, as they also furnish support services with a team of experts covering legal, sales, marketing, finance, fundraising, engineering, and more. They emphasize community building among their portfolio founders, enabling mentorship and workshops with industry experts, and facilitate access to a global network of innovators through the HearstLab Scout network.

Furthermore, founders can take advantage of in-person access to office space worldwide, including the Hearst Tower in NYC.

HearstLab's vision of closing the gender gap in venture capital has now expanded beyond US borders to include strategic partners in international markets such as the Netherlands, Spain, UK, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.

To qualify for investment, companies must be women-led, with a female founder having an equal or majority of founder equity, possess a tech-enabled, primarily B2B or B2B2C business model with a working product and proven market validation, and align with Hearst's core expertise areas.

What they say:

HearstLab is a mission-focused corporate venture fund dedicated to closing the gender gap in VC by investing in early-stage women-led technology startups. In addition to strategic capital and hands-on support, HearstLab provides access to a global network of women executives. Hearst’s ecosystem of 360+ businesses includes iconic consumer media brands like Cosmopolitan, ESPN, and A+E, as well as a range of B2B software and data companies across healthcare, finance, and transportation industries including Fitch Ratings.

What we look for: We invest in early stage women-founded and led startups in North America. We look for startups that have a tech-enabled business, a live product and demonstrated initial product-market validation. We focus on the following sectors: enterprise technology, data analytics, fintech, healthcare, transportation and media with an emphasis on B2B.

How we help: HearstLab supports early-stage startups by providing hands-on operational support through expert teams in product, marketing, legal, finance, and data strategy.