Rivet Ventures

Rivet Ventures is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 with a distinctive investment thesis centered on backing companies serving the needs of women -- specifically, markets where female usage, decision-making and purchasing behavior are the primary drivers of company growth. Rivet backs both male and female founders targeting these markets across software, media, finance, retail, consumer, enterprise, health technology and life sciences. The firm was co-founded by Managing Partner Shadi Mehraein, previously with Focus Ventures (an $830 million expansion-stage fund) and Bessemer Venture Partners, where she helped lead the Intacct Software investment, and Rebeca Hwang, co-founder of YouNoodle, Cleantech Open and Startup Nations Summit, who holds degrees from MIT and Stanford. Partner Stephanie Tilenius, Founder and CEO of Vida Health and a former Google VP of Global Commerce and Payments, further deepens the team's operating expertise. Rivet leverages a substantial LP network to help portfolio companies with financing, hiring and business-development partnerships. Across roughly 24 investments, the portfolio has produced 2 unicorns and 3 acquisitions. HoneyBook, the business management platform for creative entrepreneurs, reached unicorn status, while Modern Treasury and YesGraph are among other notable names. Rivet's focus on women-led markets is not a constraint but an investment thesis grounded in data: the firm's partners identified that female purchasing power and decision-making are systematically underweighted by mainstream venture funds, creating durable opportunity for investors who understand these markets with the depth the Rivet team brings through direct operating experience.