Jessica Karr is investing in women’s health and wellness with Coyote Ventures

In connection with Women’s History Month, we are celebrating some of the amazing female investors and entrepreneurs in our community and shining a light on the incredible work they are doing in their respective industries. Today, meet member Jessica Karr, who cofounded Coyote Ventures to invest in early stage startups that are innovating in women’s health and wellness.

SHACK15: Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you transition from being a scientist to entrepreneur to investor?

Karr: I was born and raised in West Texas. My mom is an OBGYN nurse and my dad is a dentist. I was very interested in their careers and helping people with their health. I started working at my dad’s dentist office when I was in high school and decided to go into college as a pre-med. After doing well in Chemistry I changed my major to Biochemistry and found I was great at bench research so I started moving towards that instead of medicine. I completed an MS in Biochemistry and was very fortunate to get a job at Impossible Foods when it was only a few months old. I was the 12th employee and worked in R&D to help develop and launch (about 5 years later) the Impossible Burger. I loved the early stages of the startup when we could more easily collaborate across teams, try lots of new things and be scrappy, so I consulted with early stage startups while I was completing an MBA. I then had a variety of experiences with different products and teams and felt I could leverage my unique experience in an investing role, so I got a job as Principal at a pilot impact-focused fund with the actor Adrian Grenier. I saw a lot of women’s health deals at this fund and realized that gender equality is to me the most important problem I can be working on. Women’s health has been historically marginalized and to improve women’s health is to improve gender equality. This also intersects with other important problems in sustainability, racial equality, and beyond.

SHACK15: How did the idea for Coyote Ventures come about? How does it stand out from other companies in FemTech?

Karr: I recognized that almost all of the women’s health / FemTech deals I saw were in the fertility and maternal health space, yet as a woman I knew for myself and many of my friends that basically every area in our health and wellness could benefit from improvement through innovation. Being a woman is more about having babies, so the investments we have made are a statement to that. Our name is a tribute to The Women Who Run with the Wolves and recognition that Coyotes are also living on the fringe of society, so they tend to be taboo and marginalized, yet they are adaptive, resilient, and thrive in all environments.

SHACK15: How do you look for women-owned health and wellness companies to invest in? What are you looking for as an investor?

Karr: We are investing in early stage companies with breakthrough innovation (whether it’s the science, product, or marketing). The products or services directly improve women’s lives and we consider conditions like menopause, menstruation, heart health, sexual wellness, fitness, and PTSD. We ensure companies are venture back-able, meaning they have a mindset to scale quickly. We get to know the team and enjoy working with founders who are experienced, intelligent, and confident yet humble at the same time. We look deeply into science and product and when there are products available one of my favorite things is to test them out!

SHACK15: What are some success stories?

Karr: Wile was our first investment. The founder Gwen added me on LinkedIn when I was in the early stages of forming Coyote Ventures. I could tell right away that I wanted to talk to Gwen. When I met with her I was impressed with her background and I was excited by her vision to create a company for women 40+ that is rebranding “menopause” with high quality products, by her ability to quickly scale in retail, and by the fact that the actress Judy Greer is an actively involved founding partner. I committed to invest pretty quickly, and since investing they launched on their website and on Grove Collaborative, and will be in national retail stores near you very soon!

SHACK15: What's next in women’s health?

Karr: I have been part of an emerging industry before - ten years ago no one thought that vegan burgers could or would be mainstream. I recognize many similar trends in women’s health and the impact will be huge. I am excited to advance difficult conversations around taboo topics that shouldn’t even be awkward at all but we’re taught to be embarrassed about our own bodies. Women’s health has a huge wave coming with the increase of females in STEM, medicine, and finance innovating for and funding their own needs.