Accelerating Angels closes $2M Fund I, builds capital pipeline for women founders

Accelerating Angels, the Columbus-based angel investment group and fund focused on high-growth, women-led companies, has closed its inaugural fund at $2 million in committed capital. The first close brings together 46 investors behind a thesis that women founders remain one of venture's most underfunded and best-performing segments.

Cofounded in 2022 by Mary McCarthy and Cindi Englefield, Accelerating Angels was built to address a gap that national data has documented for years. Women founders receive less than 2% of venture capital dollars in the United States, even as women-led teams generate stronger revenue per dollar invested and deliver 10 to 35% higher returns, according to research from Boston Consulting Group and First Round Capital.

"The performance data has been clear for a long time. What's been missing is the infrastructure to act on it," said Cindi Englefield, Co-Founder of Accelerating Angels. "We built Accelerating Angels to be that infrastructure in Ohio — a fund, an investor community, and a foundation working to move capital to founders who have been overlooked."

The fund has already deployed into eight companies and plans to build the Fund I portfolio to between 12 and 15 investments. A larger Fund II is in the works, designed to write bigger checks as the firm scales.

Building both sides of the market

What sets Accelerating Angels apart from a traditional angel group is its decision to build supply and demand at the same time. In 2024, the cofounders launched the Accelerating Angels Foundation, a nonprofit arm that prepares women founders to raise capital and trains new angel investors through education programming.

"A lot of women have never seen the angel process up close," Englefield said. "Once they do, once they understand how deals come together and what early-stage backing actually looks like, they realize they belong in that room."

Membership in Accelerating Angels is open to both accredited and non-accredited investors, a deliberate choice aimed at broadening Ohio's angel base beyond the traditional pool. The approach has resonated. The fund's 46 investors include experienced angels and first-time backers who came in through the foundation's education programs.

"I'm incredibly proud of the investors who believe in the companies we are backing," Englefield said in the firm's announcement. "These founders are not only smart, savvy, and experienced, they've built strong teams and companies positioned to do extraordinary things."

Looking ahead

McCarthy framed the first close as a starting point. "We are proving that investing in women-led companies is both a smart financial strategy and a powerful way to drive innovation," McCarthy said. "This is just the beginning of what we believe will be a much larger movement."

For Englefield, the bigger opportunity is what happens when more women founders have real options for early-stage capital in their own state. "Ohio has the founders. Ohio has the ideas. What we're building is the connective tissue between those founders and the capital they need to grow here, not somewhere else."

Accelerating Angels will continue deploying Fund I capital while preparing the Fund II raise. More information is available at acceleratingangels.com.