As families in the U.S. gear up for Mother’s Day, Allison Stern is focused on more than just one day of recognition. She has secured $10 million in commitments for her early-stage fund, Mother Ventures, dedicated solely to mothers as consumers.
“Moms in the U.S. are responsible for 85% of household purchases, with $2.4 trillion in spending power,” Stern told TechCrunch. “Moms are unique economic drivers.”
A mother of two, Stern is leveraging this spending power by investing in startups that cater to modern mothers. Since starting Mother Ventures two years ago, she has invested $4 million into 13 startups. Her portfolio includes Coral Care, which offers instant bookings with pediatric specialists for children with developmental delays, and Tin Can, a popular Wi-Fi-enabled retro-style phone for kids.
Previously, Stern co-founded Tubular Labs, a social video analytics startup that grew to $25 million in annual revenue before its 2023 acquisition, and served as an operating partner at The Chernin Group (TCG), a consumer-centric growth equity firm. TCG’s strategy included investing in companies serving unique audiences with spending power, like Barstool Sports, she said.
When launching her fund, Stern saw mothers as an untapped market with potential for strong returns. “Motherhood is the ultimate niche that’s not really a niche,” she said.
Stern brought on Tony James, former president and COO of Blackstone, now board chair of Costco, as a main LP. Other backers include Jessica Rolph, founder of Lovevery, and female executives from Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Sesame Street.
She believes Millennial and Gen Z mothers want a different range of products, from on-demand services like Zum to meal deliveries from DoorDash, and fintech tools like Greenlight for funding a child’s debit card.
“We want healthy, subscription-based, digital community products,” she said.
However, Stern emphasizes that her fund is broader than just parenting tech. “It’s a consumer fund; focusing on mom as the consumer allows for broader investments,” she stated.
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