LOS ANGELES — A venture capital fund is putting out a call for the best female founders, CEOs and tech minds in Alabama
Halogen Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on early stage startups with a woman on the founding team, has launced a $10 million investment to build the pipeline of female founders in Alabama.
Halogen is the first out-of-state venture capital firm to receive funding from Innovate Alabama, a statewide public-private partnership dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation in Alabama.
The investment is through InvestAL, Innovate Alabama’s venture capital program made possible by the State Small Business Credit Initiative, and will catalyze Halogen’s growing impact on the Alabama startup ecosystem, specifically supporting female founders tackling global problems.
Halogen Ventures is led by renowned investor and entrepreneur Jesse Draper, recognized around the world for championing the business case for investing in women. Halogen has invested in more than 75 startups that have collectively achieved a market value exceeding $15 billion.
The fund’s portfolio features five unicorns with a widely impactful footprint in Alabama as well as on a national scale including Everlywell (valuation $3.5B), Babylist ($1B GMV), Flex ($24.8B market), HopSkipDrive’s (over 1M safe trips to and from schools), Upwards leadership in childcare solutions ($520B market), Metropolis (AI powered mobility provider) among other leading consumer technology and B2B solutions.
“Innovate Alabama is proud to partner with Halogen Ventures to help drive capital access and strategic support to female founders in Alabama,” said Cynthia Crutchfield, CEO of Innovate Alabama. “This investment not only aligns with our mission of fostering innovation but also ensures that Alabamians are at the forefront of solving tomorrow’s challenges. We are excited about the impact this investment will have on our entrepreneurial community and beyond.”
Alabama ranks last in the nation for female founders. Through this investment, Innovate Alabama seeks to change that, creating direct pathways for local startups to engage with Halogen Ventures’ network and providing access to mentorship, resources, and capital.
By bridging Alabama’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with the broader national market, the partnership aims to spark transformative growth and innovation within the state.
“We are thrilled to partner with the state of Alabama through Innovate Alabama and invest more capital into incredible female founders,” said Jesse Draper, founding partner of Halogen Ventures. “Alabama has all the ingredients to be a leader in technology from great universities to the presence of over 50 Fortune 500 companies. Through this collaboration, not only do we plan to catalyze the growth of the Alabama tech ecosystem, create more jobs and startup more future female billionaires, but we see a massive opportunity in healthcare, manufacturing, agtech and other verticals that we look forward to capitalizing on.
“This is a real opportunity that more investors need to jump on.”
Within Halogen’s portfolio are companies currently creating an impact in Alabama such as Binti, who is streamlining adoption, Goodr, a sustainable surplus food management platform leveraging technology to reduce food waste and combat hunger, and Upwards, the largest at-home childcare provider in the U.S., servicing more than 179 Alabama cities.
Halogen’s portfolio company Metropolis, a parking technology company that raised $1.9 Billion in 2024 and was noted as one of the top 10 deals of the year according to Crunchbase, is also already servicing multiple locations across Alabama.
Innovate Alabama’s investment is part of its larger vision to position Alabama as a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation. The organization has a track record of supporting startups and fostering public-private collaboration that drives economic resilience and growth.
The partnership with Halogen Ventures is expected to fund more women in Alabama to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in the tech sector and connect with a supportive community of like-minded innovators.
For more information about Innovate Alabama and its initiatives, visit innovatealabama.org.
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