What Cake Ventures does

Cake Ventures is a US-based venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Monique Woodard, a Kauffman Fellow (KF26) with 15+ years of experience as an entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, operator, and investor. The firm invests at the pre-seed and seed stages with first checks of $200K-$750K, targeting companies that address the needs of consumers and workers shaped by major demographic shifts: aging and longevity, the rise of women's economic power, the shift to majority-minority demographics, and the growth of deskless work. The firm's first fund of $17 million was closed in January 2023, and its portfolio spans 30+ companies across digital health, women's health, fertility, mental health, aging/care, fintech, consumer e-commerce, future of work, and AI-enabled tooling (e.g., NextWork, Bright, Death Clock, Tendercare, EasyMateAI, Culina Health, Eli Health, Aster, Frame Fertility, Sol Health, Guaranteed, Joshin, STAND+, Koobz, Pamper, Shop McMullen).

The firm's business model is a standard venture capital fund structure, generating revenue from management fees (typically 2% of committed capital) on its $17M Fund I and potential carried interest on profitable exits. Cake Ventures is structured as a limited partnership (Cake Ventures LP), is privately held, and has no parent company; it is operationally a one-GP firm with 1-10 total headcount and is based in San Francisco, California, with a stated investment focus on North America (USA and Canada). The firm sources deal flow through its website application portal, direct founder outreach, ecosystem networking, and proprietary thought-leadership content (whitepapers on the Silver Economy, Trillion Dollar Female Economy, Demographic Revolution, and Gray New World), and it distributes research and updates via Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Medium, and an email newsletter. The firm does not operate a unified product platform; its portfolio companies operate independently and span categories that align with the demographic-change thesis rather than a single technology stack.

Name

Cake Ventures

Legal name

Cake Ventures

Website

https://cake.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cake Ventures is a US-based, San Francisco-headquartered venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Monique Woodard that invests pre-seed and seed capital ($200K-$750K checks) in companies addressing demographic change across aging, women's health, majority-minority consumers, and deskless work, from a $17 million first fund.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Early-Stage Private Equity

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Pre-seed funding
• Seed-stage investing
• Demographic change investing
• Early-stage equity investment

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees and Carried Interest: As a venture capital fund, Cake Ventures generates revenue through management fees charged on committed capital (typically 2% of fund size) and carried interest (typically 20% of profits above the hurdle rate), aligning GP and LP incentives over the fund's lifecycle.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cake Ventures is a venture capital firm that makes pre-seed and seed-stage equity investments ($200K-750K first checks) in companies addressing demographic change. The firm deploys capital from a $17M fund, primarily in North America, into sectors such as aging/longevity, women's health, fintech for underserved consumers, and the deskless workforce. Portfolio companies receive strategic guidance, network access, and ongoing investor support from founding partner Monique Woodard.

Product overview

Cake Ventures is a venture capital investment firm, not a product company. Their core service is providing pre-seed and seed-stage investment (first checks from $200K-750K) to founders building companies that address demographic changes including: aging and longevity, women's spending power, the rise of majority-minority consumers, and deskless work. The firm does not offer a unified product platform but maintains a portfolio of 17+ portfolio companies spanning digital health, women's health, fintech, consumer e-commerce, future of work, and AI sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cake Ventures Pre-Seed and Seed Investment
• Cake Ventures Fund I The firm's $17 million debut venture fund that deploys pre-seed and seed capital into companies addressing demographic change, with limited partner commitments and standard VC fund economics.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ulu Ventures: Early-stage VC fund backing diverse founding teams in fintech and enterprise software. Comparable stage, check size, and diversity-led demographic thesis.
• Female Founders Fund: Pre-seed/seed VC investing in women-led and women-serving companies. Directly comparable as an early-stage, demographic-thesis-driven fund with similar check sizes and exclusive focus on underserved consumer/economic segments.
• Halogen Ventures: Pre-seed/seed fund backing companies led by or serving underrepresented founders. Closely matches Cake's stage, check size range, and demographic/inclusion thesis.
• Acrew Capital: Early-stage VC investing in diverse founding teams building consumer and enterprise software. Similar pre-seed/seed posture and demographic-thesis overlap with Cake.
• BBG Ventures (Built By Girls): Pre-seed/seed fund investing at the intersection of cultural and demographic shifts, including women and next-generation consumers. Comparable stage and thesis to Cake.
• Backstage Capital: Pre-seed fund backing underrepresented founders, including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ founders. Shares demographic thesis and early-stage focus with Cake Ventures.
• SoGal Ventures: Early-stage global VC investing in diverse founders across consumer and tech. Comparable demographic thesis and pre-seed/seed check sizing.
• Rethink Impact: Early-stage VC investing in tech-enabled companies addressing challenges of underserved populations (women, people of color, aging). Strong thematic overlap with Cake's demographic focus.

Emerging players

• Karp Capital: Emerging early-stage fund with demographic inclusion focus. Smaller and newer than Cake, with overlapping thesis on underinvested founder segments.

Broad incumbents

• Inspired Capital: Early-stage VC backing founders across consumer, enterprise, and healthcare with attention to inclusive teams. Larger and broader platform than Cake but overlapping demographic-change themes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cakeventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cake-ventures-lp
• Instagraminstagram.com/cake.vc/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments16 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Cake Ventures