A deal Female Founders Fund just struck proves that the ecosystem is steadily taking shape. The venture capital firm invested in its first repeat founder: Mariah Chase, who cofounded the plus-size fashion brand Eloquii, and is back with a retail tech startup called Ekyam.ai. Ekyam raised a $2 million pre-seed round, for which Female Founders Fund served as the lead investor, Fortune is the first to report. Greycroft, also a past Eloquii investor, also participated. Duggal calls the investment a “full-circle moment” and her “thesis coming to life.”

Chase is now a three-time founder (and a Female Founders Fund LP). Her first startup was a subscription accessories business that she sold to QVC in 2012. Duggal and Chase met in 2014, and Eloquii was one of Female Founders Fund’s first investments from its $5.85 million Fund I. When Eloquii sold to Walmart in 2018, that was Female Founders Fund’s first portfolio exit. Since then, Female Founders Fund has returned its first fund, and Duggal has touted the importance of mid-market acquisitions in achieving that goal. Chase stayed at Walmart for four years, and in 2023, Walmart sold Eloquii to FullBeauty Brands.

Courtesy of Ekyam

Ekyam is Chase’s first pure tech business. The company was started by Abi Sachdeva, who is its chief technology officer; Chase first served as an adviser and came onboard as cofounder and CEO less than two months ago. Ekyam is a “middleware” software service, built to communicate among retailers’ many disparate tech platforms—like order management systems, returns platforms, and ecommerce solutions like Shopify. “Data between these platforms has to be moved in a relatively synchronous fashion so you know what inventory you have, how much you have to sell, how much is sold, and how much was received,” Chase explains. While she was at Eloquii, Chase recalls, the company ended up in a situation where it lost much of that information because the two engineers who knew how to transition it between systems left the company. She says that only now is AI advanced enough to build this solution.

When Chase was building Eloquii, she says she was advised not to invest in this kind of service. “I was often told to invest in the merchandise assortment and marketing and make the backend just good enough to get by,” she says. COVID supply-chain shortages changed some of that thinking, but it’s still a common phenomenon. “I look back and kick myself that I didn’t actually invest more in the technology of the backend. All that does is hero and support and make more profitable on a per-unit basis the merchandising and the marketing. I’m hoping, from this vantage point, to shift that message a little bit.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

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- Track tests. Track and field is the first sport at the Olympics that will require DNA sex testing from athletes in female competitions, a decision that the governing board said it made to protect women’s sports. New York Times

- Antibiotic approved. For the first time in 30 years, the FDA approved a new antibiotic for urinary tract infections. They’re the most-common medical issue faced by women, with up to 60% of women getting a UTI once in their life. Time

- Bouncing back. After BOS Nation’s launch faced immediate backlash from fans—over the team name and “Too Many Balls” marketing video—Boston’s National Women’s Soccer League team has rebranded as Boston Legacy FC. “It’s about earning our place in Boston’s storied sports history,” said controlling owner and cofounder Jennifer Epstein. Wall Street Journal

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Alliance Homecare, which provides in-home health services, appointed Kaci Scheuler as chief revenue officer. Previously, she was global head of sales at Summer Discovery.

Enable, an AI-powered rebate management platform, named Susan Hailey CHRO. Most recently, she was an advisor to Enable’s CEO and CHRO, and she previously served as VP, global talent acquisition and equity, diversity, and inclusion at OpenText.

Private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management named Merche del Valle chief talent officer. Previously, she was managing director, chief talent officer, and CHRO at Grain Management; she also founded Coach Synapse.

Reinsurance company Aspida Re appointed Elinor Friedman to its board of directors. She was previously managing director at Willis Towers Watson.

ALZpath, which develops diagnostic tools for Alzheimer's disease, appointed Samantha Budd Haeberlein to its board of directors. She is chief medical officer at Enigma Biomedical Group.

ON MY RADAR

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PARTING WORDS

“Sometimes, I’m looking at the world where we are taking so many steps back…I want to be part of the people who keep us moving forward.”

— Top U.S. women’s figure skater Amber Glenn on being part of the LGBTQ community