Capital F, an all-female-led venture capital firm, has closed its debut fund at $17 million, aiming to invest in companies serving the "female economy" — markets where women drive demand. Co-founders Margaret Coblentz and Dawn Dobras, who have three decades of combined retail and beauty industry leadership experience, launched the firm after noticing few women reached senior executive ranks, and set out to change who controls investment decisions and company ownership.

The fund focuses on three areas: women's health, digital commerce, and AI tools, the latter deemed important because women are disproportionately affected by trust and safety violations. Almost 80% of the fund's limited partners are women, a result of "salon" events the founders held nationwide to draw more women into venture investing. Capital F has backed 13 early-stage companies with cheques of $250,000 to $1 million, including telemedicine firm Hey Jane and hormone-tracking platform Stardust, and has already seen one exit, Steller Sleep, acquired by Google. The firm expects to fully deploy the fund by the end of 2027.