The Helm

Presenting the 2025 Retreat ✨ We’re so proud of the beautiful experience we crafted in collaboration with our community, incredible speakers and sponsors - pictures speak a thousand words, but these still don’t cover it. What do our members say? 💫 ‘This is my second retreat, and it was phenomenal. The speakers were brilliant and knowledgeable. The best part was reconnecting with like-minded women and making new friends. Everyone brought something new to the retreat. I am constantly learning, be it financial literacy, personal connections or spiritual growth, I leave empowered, curious, hopeful and happy. Thank you Beam!’ - MH, London. Could you be a Beam Member? Head to our website to find out - thebeamnetwork.com Click the link in our bio to see more photos 📸 [Photos: Beam Photography and Tracey Wishik] #womensmembershipnetwork #womensretreat #womenwealthholder #retreatforwomen #membersretreat #newyorkretreat #hudsonvalleyretreat #hudsonvalley #femaleempowerment #womeninfinance #empoweredwomen #financialempowerment #femalecommunity #womensupportingwomen #valuebasedinvesting

Attn fashion brands: you can now order free samples of @swaythefuture Seaweed Polybags! ⁠ ⁠ ✓ Made with seaweed, plants & home compostable polymers⁠ ✓ Designed to decompose in your backyard⁠ ⁠ The fashion industry alone uses 180 *billion* plastic polybags annually. It's time for an upgrade. If you're a fashion brand, click the link in our bio to order a sample now through @ecoenclose .

It’s time we talk about perimenopause. In a first-of-its-kind report, @oovalife surveyed over 700 women ages 35-52 across all 50 states. Spoiler: There’s a huge gap in medical research and information available to both women and clinicians as it relates to perimenopause:⁠ ⁠ - Despite hot flashes making headlines, the most common symptoms include mood changes (92%), anxiety (90%), bloating (90%), decreased interest in sex (80%), and difficulty sleeping (80%).⁠ ⁠ - 25% of women reported that their perimenopause symptoms started before 35.⁠ ⁠ - Only 5% of women feel satisfied with the way their perimenopause concerns were treated by their doctor.⁠ ⁠ - 44% of women said their careers were impacted by perimenopause.⁠ ⁠ Read the full State of Perimenopause in 2024 Report at the link in our bio. For those looking to understand their hormonal health, Oova's Perimenopause Hormone Kit allows users to track their estrogen, luteinizing hormone, and progesterone levels at home across a 15-day period month-over-month.⁠

A first look at @ganni ’s 🌍️carbon-free🌎️ shoe made from @simplifyber_inc ’s pioneering bio-fiber, which made its debut at Paris Fashion Week!⁠ ⁠ Simplifyber, a Helm portfolio company, makes fully biodegradable fabric that is as recyclable as paper. Made from sustainable fibers like wood pulp and food waste, Simplifyber can mimic the stretch, durability, and moisture-wicking properties of polyester. Additionally, its patented and vertically integrated “smart” manufacturing system—the first of its kind—eliminates the need for weaving, cutting, and sewing using a process of liquid-injecting molding. ⁠ ⁠ What does this all mean? Simplifyber can radically transform the textile industry and create meaningful environmental impact by eliminating 60% of the textile supply chain and reducing material waste by 35%. ⁠ ⁠ Ganni said it best! “Our design team experimented with over 30 cutting-edge fabrics, captivated by the alchemic processes behind these advancements. This season’s standout? @simplifyber_inc a pioneering bio-fiber used to create the textured uppers of our retro trainers.”⁠

Earlier this year we invested in @swaythefuture , a fully biodegradable and cost-effective alternative to plastic made from seaweed, and we're thrilled to finally share the news! Their groundbreaking technology earned co-founders @juliajmarsh and @mattjmayes first place in the @tomford Plastic Innovation Prize—the only global competition exclusively dedicated to scalable, biodegradable alternatives to thin-film plastic polybags—and they have since secured partnerships with world-renowned companies like @jcrew and @burton , been named a @fastcompany World Changing Idea, and raised an oversubscribed $5 million Seed Round with participation from The Helm, Third Nature, One Small Planet, and BAM Ventures. ⁠ ⁠ For more on why this company is creating such buzz, watch this amazing video from @guardian , or click the link in our bio to read more about @juliajmarsh 's journey building Sway.

Proud investor vibes today (courtesy of @juliemaeweber 's two-year-old representing in Canada)! @itselectric_co announced their oversubscribed $6.5M seed round, led by @uber , to install curbside EV chargers across America for people with no driveways or garages. ⁠ ⁠ The Helm was the first check into @itselectric_co 's Pre-Seed in 2022—we knew they were poised to lead transformational change in the climate tech and EV spaces, and now, with this fresh round of funding, they're set to deploy curbside chargers across seven cities in the United States this year, including Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Jersey City, and San Francisco. Their curbside charging infrastructure will also help support Uber's goal of helping rideshare drivers go electric.⁠ ⁠ Click the link in bio to read the full story in @fortunemag . Huge congratulations to @tiyagordon and the entire team. This is just the beginning!

@wearechiyo raises $3 million to scale the first nationwide meal delivery service specializing in fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum care 👏👏👏⁠ ⁠ We couldn't be prouder to be on this journey with co-founders @__ireneliu__ and @jjolorte as they build a next-generation maternal nutrition company rewriting what care looks like.⁠ . ⁠ Read more on @techcrunch at the link in bio! ⁠

Beam members are in for a treat! We’re delighted to announce that @lindseytaylorwood will be a speaker at our Members’ Offsite next month! Lindsey is the Founder and General Partner of @thehelmco ! Swipe to read more about Lindsey’s impressive background investing in women-led businesses, building funds and mobilising women investors - we know our members are going to benefit from what Lindsey has to share! 🌟 And the good news? You can still join the offsite with the final spaces available - head to our website for full details and to book your space now! /beam-offsite-2024 Dates: 20th - 22nd MAY 2024 Location: Portugal Limited spots remaining! Secure your spot now before it’s too late! #femaleempowerment #womeninfinance #empoweredwomen #financialempowerment #tasterclass #femalecommunity #womensupportingwomen #valuebasedinvesting #memberstrip #membershipnetwork

“They Want to Make Palm Oil in a Lab. Without Palm Trees.” — Excited to share @gopalmless featured in the @nytimes ! ⁠ ⁠ The first bio-manufactured alternative to palm oil made from yeast in a lab will replace palm oil-derived ingredients in everything from nut butter and cheese to sunscreen and shampoo, and could forever change the food and personal care industries—saving millions of acres of rainforests in the process.⁠ ⁠ Read more at the link in bio.⁠ ⁠

@missgrass is working on an important destigmatization campaign and is looking for a wide range of people in NYC (POC, queer, trans folks, all abilities, bodies, ages, and styles to the front row!) to be featured in the campaign. ⁠ ⁠ The campaign will be a portrait x storytelling series and will live in a public gallery in NY in December. ⁠ ⁠ Apply > link (Closes 10/31)!⁠

Did you know:⁠ ⁠ 💵 Women deliver much more per dollar invested and generate a higher return on investment in both private and public companies⁠ ⁠ ⚖️ Gender-balanced investment teams correlate with a higher IRR and an increase in fund returns⁠ ⁠ ♀️ Female VC partners lead nearly twice as many financings in female founding teams⁠ ⁠ “The data is clear,” The Helm's founder and GP @lindseytaylorwood explains in @Forbes . “The ROI on investing in diverse founders has been well documented. Companies with female founders generate, on average, a 35% higher ROI and 12% higher revenues than their male peers.”⁠ ⁠ Read more at the link in bio.

What if palm oil production could go from this...to this (swipe). c16 Biosciences, founded by the indomitable Shara Ticku, is set to save hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical rainforests with @gopalmless , the first bio-manufactured alternative to palm oil made from yeast in a lab. The product will replace palm oil-derived ingredients in everything from nut butter and cheese to sunscreen and shampoo and could forever change the food and personal care industries—decarbonizing the consumer products supply chain in the process and cutting 1B tons of CO2 emissions.⁠ ⁠ Why it matters, and why we're proud investors of c16:⁠ ⁠ 🌍️ Today, more than 77M metric tonnes of palm oil is produced each year. It’s in our food, clothes, skincare products, and even the fuel that powers our cars. But this $61B industry has drastic environmental and societal costs: rainforests from Costa Rica to Indonesia are destroyed to make way for oil palm tree plantations, destroying habitats for people and endangered wildlife, while releasing carbon dioxide (palm oil contributes approximately 1.4% of global CO2 emissions—almost as much as the aviation sector).⁠ ⁠ 👩‍🔬 For decades, scientists have tried to create a lab-grown alternative to palm oil using yeast and algae (called a single-cell oil) that not only matches performance (it must be odorless, colorless, and tasteless) but also price. ⁠ ⁠ 💵 Backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures (and The Helm), c16’s single-cell palm oil alternative is the first to reach price parity with palm oil. ⁠ ⁠ Shara recently shared her story on How I Built This with Guy Raz. Listen at the link in bio!