Serena Ventures

What Serena Ventures does

Serena Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by tennis legend Serena Williams in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm invests across seed through Series D stages in companies spanning consumer, fintech, health, AI, and web3, with a stated purpose of expanding access, ownership, and opportunity at scale. The portfolio comprises 67+ companies including 8 unicorns such as Esusu (rent-reporting fintech at a $1.2 billion valuation) and Midi Health (women's telehealth at over $1 billion), plus notable holdings such as Unrivaled (women's 3-on-3 basketball), Kopi Kenangan (Indonesia's largest coffee chain), and consumer brands including Khloud and Rebel. The firm is led by Managing Partner Serena Williams, supported by General Partner Beth Ferreira, Partner Sharla Grass, a Fractional CFO, EIR, Investor, Operations Manager, Chief of Staff, Partnerships and Portfolio Support, and a Venture Fellow, totaling approximately nine professionals.

The firm earns revenue through standard venture fund economics: management fees on committed capital from limited partners and carried interest on portfolio company exits. Reported realized exits include Bitski (acquired by Phantom), Lolli (acquired by Thesis*), Shopping Gives (acquired by CPGIO), Wile (acquired by NamelessCPG), and Zitti (acquired by Block). The firm operates no proprietary technology platform; investment selection is driven by human judgment, founder relationships, and thematic theses. Deal sourcing is anchored in Serena Williams' personal brand and network of athletes, celebrities, and mission-aligned founders, with global reach evidenced by portfolio companies in the USA, Canada, Indonesia, Uganda, Nigeria, and Australia.

Activity through 2024-2026 indicates an accelerated investment cadence and broadening thematic coverage. Notable priced rounds include Rebelstork's $18 million Series A (September 2024), Unrivaled's Series B at a $340 million valuation (September 2025), a co-led $7 million seed for Hapiko (November 2025), and Midi Health's $100 million Series D at unicorn status (February 2026). Specific fund size, LP composition, and detailed financials are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Serena Ventures

Legal name

Serena Ventures

Website

https://www.serenaventures.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Serena Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Serena Williams in 2017 that backs bold founders across consumer, fintech, health, AI, and web3, with a global portfolio of 67+ companies including multiple unicorns such as Esusu and Midi Health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager) (FSANAGAF)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early-stage funding
• Seed capital
• Startup investments
• Growth equity

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Portfolio exits and realizations: Serena Ventures has generated returns through portfolio company exits including Bitski (acquired by Phantom), Lolli (acquired by Thesis*), Shopping Gives (acquired by CPGIO), Wile (acquired by NamelessCPG), and Zitti (acquired by Block). The firm reports a portfolio of 67+ companies including 8 unicorns.
2. Venture fund management: Operates Fund I and subsequent funds, earning management fees on committed capital from limited partners and carried interest on exits. Active early-stage investor deploying capital across consumer, fintech, health, AI, and emerging tech.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

Serena Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that deploys institutional and private capital into seed, Series A, and later-stage rounds of technology-enabled startups. The firm manages venture funds (including Fund I and successor vehicles), charges management fees to limited partners, earns carried interest on portfolio exits, and provides capital plus brand-driven strategic support to founders across consumer, fintech, health, AI, and web3 sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Serena Ventures Early-Stage Venture Capital Early-stage venture capital firm that invests in bold founders across consumer, fintech, health, AI, and web3 sectors, with a global perspective and a mission to expand access, ownership, and opportunity at scale. Deploys capital, provides strategic support, and earns returns through portfolio exits including Bitski (acquired by Phantom), Lolli (acquired by Thesis*), Shopping Gives (acquired by CPGIO), Wile (acquired by NamelessCPG), and Zitti (acquired by Block). Portfolio of 67+ companies including 8 unicorns.
• Fund I The first venture capital fund raised and managed by Serena Ventures. Fund I portfolio includes Calico (supply chain management platform), Esusu (rent reporting credit-building fintech), Khloud (better-for-you snacking brand by Khloé Kardashian), Rebel (baby gear recommerce marketplace), and Luminous (e-commerce operating system), among other consumer, fintech, health, and web3 investments.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Marcy Venture Partners: Celebrity-affiliated early-stage VC founded by Jay Brown and Jay-Z (with Larry Marcus), focused on consumer, culture, and crypto. Closest peer to Serena Ventures in thesis, structure, and celebrity-founder-led model.
• Seven Seven Six: Venture firm led by Alexis Ohanian, similarly rooted in a globally recognized founder brand, investing across consumer, crypto, and frontier tech at seed/Series A — directly comparable thesis and brand-led sourcing.
• SoGal Ventures: Early-stage VC backing diverse founders globally; similar thesis around expanding access and ownership, comparable check size and stage focus.
• Halogen Ventures: Early-stage consumer tech fund founded by Jesse Draper, with a similar celebrity-adjacent profile and concentrated focus on diverse and consumer-led founders.
• Female Founders Fund: Early-stage fund backing female-founded companies across consumer, fintech, and health — directly comparable stage, sector breadth, and inclusive-founder thesis.
• Rethink Impact: Early-stage VC investing in underrepresented founders in health, education, and economic opportunity; comparable impact-tilted thesis and stage focus.
• BBG Ventures: Seed-stage fund backing female and diverse founders in consumer tech — similar early-stage, mission-aligned, and underrepresented-founder lens.
• Maveron: Consumer-focused early-stage VC that has co-led Rebelstork's Series A and Hapiko's seed alongside Serena Ventures; directly comparable stage, sector focus, and partnership pattern.

Broad incumbents

• Forerunner Ventures: Leading early-stage consumer-focused VC; overlaps heavily on consumer thesis (Rebel, Khloud, Luminous) but operates at larger AUM and broader LP base.
• Goodwater Capital: Consumer-tech specialist that led Midi Health's Series D; comparable in consumer/fintech/health thesis and stage overlap, but at much greater scale and AUM.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/serena-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments93 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Serena Ventures