The celebrity money desk
Who's really writing the cheques
Founded Pivotal Ventures in 2015 as her personal investment and incubation company, blending venture investing, fund-of-funds LP stakes, grants and advocacy, concentrated on women, families and the care economy.
Pivotal VenturesMelinda French Gates's Mission: Make Sure Women Are Setting The Agenda · via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Melinda French Gates invests through Pivotal Ventures, the company she founded in 2015, to push capital toward women in areas the market has overlooked, above all the care economy and women's health. She works mostly as a limited partner in women-led venture funds, and since around 2023 has added direct stakes in early-stage companies at Series A and B. Her stated goal is to change who controls investment capital rather than to lower the bar for founders. On the philanthropic side, she separately committed $1 billion in 2024 to organizations advancing women's power and rights in the US.
I firmly believe we are missing out on transformational ideas by not putting resources behind women. I've invested in the Female Founders Fund because we need women founders and funders at the table if we want to build a more prosperous and inclusive economy for everyone. New and innovative ideas come from everywhere; we can't keep looking in the same old packages.
When we invest in the care economy, we invest in women, families, and the economic future of this country.
This really comes down to looking at key areas: tech, finance, media, politics. You get more equity in those four industries and you will change all of society.
A woman can't step into her power if we neglect her health.
12 documented positions — each sourced to named reporting.
Melinda French Gates' investment, incubation and advocacy company advancing women's power and influence in the US; deploys capital both as an LP in women-led funds and, increasingly, as a direct backer of startups.
Early-stage VC firm investing in the digital transformation of the care economy across parenting and family life, the future of work, household optimization, and aging and longevity.
Seed-stage venture firm backing female founders across sectors.
Wealth-management and financial-planning platform built by women, for women, co-founded by former Wall Street executive Sallie Krawcheck.
Early-stage venture fund investing in technology that serves underserved US communities.
Impact venture firm backing women-led technology companies addressing social and environmental problems.
AI-driven software for child welfare that cuts documentation time for social workers and streamlines the fostering and adoption process for families.
Women's health platform combining gynecology, primary care and mental health in one model.
Virtual mental-health care service for children and their parents.
Integrated medical care (a PACE-style model) that helps aging adults live safely at home.
Revenue-based financing platform providing capital to underrepresented small-business owners.
Photo: Chatham House — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Pivotal does not publish a full portfolio, cheque sizes or returns; most disclosed positions are LP commitments to funds, and she also deploys very large sums as philanthropy.