Potential backers raised their eyebrows when this film student turned graphic designer decided to launch her venture firm. Molly Mielke had designed products at Figma and Notion and consulted for companies including Stripe and Retool, but she had no formal investment track record. “I definitely don’t look like a model VC,” she says. “I started to specialize more and more in helping tech companies at the earliest stages tell their stories.” That background, plus the appeal of supporting a woman-led boutique fund, eventually convinced limited partners Cendana Capital, Marc Andreessen, Fred Ehrsam and Daniel Gross to back Moth Fund, where Mielke is the sole general partner and has raised $6 million. She’s focused on early-stage startups, providing checks up to $250,000 to companies like electric scooter firm Infinite Machine and a robotic dishwasher company called Armstrong. Now, after investing in 36 businesses, Mielke is doubling down and is expected to raise a second fund. “The right LPs understand VCs should be weird, and they should stand out.”
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