To assist ladies thrive throughout their prime, tennis legend Serena Williams simply invested an undisclosed quantity in WILE, a vegan complement model created by ladies for ladies present process totally different levels of menopause. Williams participated in WILE’s $3 million seed spherical by way of Serena Ventures, a brand new early-stage enterprise capital agency that simply raised $111 million to help manufacturers and founders that Williams believes in.
WILE was created by ladies—Gwen Floyd, Corey Scholibo, and Julie Kucinski alongside actress and activist Judy Greer—with the aim of demystifying the pure means of menopause by shifting hormonal stigmas and empowering ladies to thrive by way of these levels in life. WILE makes quite a lot of plant-powered dietary supplements, tinctures, and practical drinks that focus on frequent points similar to stress, scorching flashes, and temper swings, and help the general wellness of ladies of their 40s, 50s, and 60s.
“We’ve laid the groundwork and discovered a lot about our clients,” Floyd stated in a press release. “This funding makes it attainable for us to interrupt by way of the silence and get her what she wants and needs, the place she desires it.”
WILE
With the assistance of the brand new funding, WILE will launch 9 merchandise this month at Complete Meals Markets the place Floyd hopes the model can attain a number of the greater than 30 million ladies at present present process totally different levels of menopause. “Complete Meals Market has lengthy been a pacesetter in wholesome life,” Floyd stated. “Their recognition of perimenopause, midlife stress, and ladies’s well being on this life stage is a major bellwether for different retailers and the market forward.”
Along with Williams, WILE’s seed funding spherical included funding from Springdale Ventures, angel investor Sara Brilliant, and Coyote Ventures.
Serena Williams empowers ladies with vegan menopause merchandise
From her activism courtside to her enterprise ventures, Williams has been empowering ladies by way of numerous initiatives for many years. With WILE, Williams needed to help a model that fills an necessary market hole that helps ladies thrive throughout an necessary life stage that society has stigmatized.
“It’s astonishing that the market and medication have ignored 50 p.c of the inhabitants within the prime of their lives and admittedly, their incomes energy,” Williams stated in a press release. “It’s uncommon to see an space of alternative this huge, this underserved, and this apparent. As an investor, we see this as an opportunity to help change within the tradition with merchandise ladies merely want.”
Whereas WILE is likely one of the first investments the plant-powered athlete has made since launching Serena Ventures, Williams has beforehand invested in different vegan manufacturers, together with meal firm Daily Harvest. In 2019, Williams participated in meals innovator Not possible Meals’ $300 million Sequence E spherical as a person investor alongside her husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. This funding spherical additionally included participation from music legend Jay-Z, late-night host Trevor Noah, actress Katy Perry, social entrepreneur Jaden Smith, and plenty of extra.
Comfortable Viking
Venus Williams’ vegan ventures
Sister and fellow tennis legend Venus Williams can also be empowering folks by way of a distinct strategy. Final yr, Venus Williams launched Comfortable Viking, a plant-based diet model that helps folks optimize their wellness with formulations that she herself makes use of to remain on prime of her sport.
Venus Williams has been following a plant-based eating regimen since 2011 after she was identified with Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune dysfunction that just about ended her profession. After eradicating animal merchandise from her eating regimen, Venus Williams was capable of handle painful signs and get again on the courtroom. The tennis star labored with nutritionists to create Happy Viking—named after her personal warrior spirit—merchandise which embrace pea protein-loaded shakes and whey-free superfood powders designed to help not simply optimum bodily but in addition psychological well being.
Across the time that Venus Williams launched Comfortable Viking, she additionally teamed up with psychological well being firm Higher Assist and the Girls’s Tennis Affiliation to offer entry to $2 million in free remedy to tennis followers worldwide. “For me, total wellness is taking good care of your complete self—not simply half. My physique and my thoughts are of equal significance, so I attempt to deal with them with equal care,” Venus Williams beforehand informed VegNews. “Comfortable Viking is all about that stability of being a fighter and pushing your self, but in addition realizing when to verify in on your self, too.”
Like her sister, Venus Williams additionally invests in manufacturers she believes in and final yr, she invested in rising plant-based market PlantX and joined the workforce as an envoy who helps the corporate advocate for plant-based dwelling.
For extra about Serena and Venus Williams, learn:
Venus Williams Says No Whey With Launch of New Vegan Protein Powder
Tennis Legend Venus Williams Invests in New Vegan Marketplace
Why Celebrities Like Serena Williams Are Investing In Vegan Businesses