2009 Alumnae Named One of Forbes' 30 Under 30

A 2009 alumna was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list last week in the venture capital category.

Congratulations to Anna Whiteman, vice president of Coefficient Capital, where she has led a Series A into hydration brand Hydrant. She also worked on consumer investments like Quest Nutrition and Spindrift at VMG, and actively serves on the Board of the Vinetta Project’s New York Chapter.

Whiteman is the founder of Rad Ladies, a network of top female founders. She started the network with about 10 founders in 2017 as a place women could talk honestly about their business. “I never meant to start a pseudo-club for female founders, but over the short course of five years as an early-stage investor, the message was clear: Women tend to build, present, execute, and problem-solve differently than men. Women also tend to have shallower networks supporting what they are building. So I made it my responsibility to informally connect those I thought could help each other,” Whiteman said in an article she penned for NewsTimes.com.

Today, the Rad Ladies has grown to about 100 founders who now meet monthly via Zoom.

Whiteman, who received a BA in Philosophy Politics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, will participate in a virtual discussion Tuesday in the Wharton Women in Business Club’s panel “Breaking Diversity Barriers in VC and Entrepreneurship.”

Female founders received 2.8 percent of United States venture capital funding in 2019, and today, only 1.4 percent of venture capital-funded startup founders are black or Latinx. Whiteman and the three other panelists will discuss how industry-leading venture capital professionals and entrepreneurs are working to shift that paradigm, as many venture capital funds have made commitments to hire and fund diverse talent.

The free, virtual discussion takes place from 5 to 6 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8 via Zoom. Click here to register.