Diversity in Investment

Melissa Cash (right), CEO and co-founder of ed tech company Pok Pok, made women investors a priority in her latest fundraising round. (Credit: Pok Pok) Melissa Cash, co-founder and CEO of educational company Pok Pok, is on a mission to make technology better for children – and to center women investors in her growth plans. Cash recently completed a Series A fundraising round, pulling in $6 million. The round was led by VC firm Adjacent, and included investments from other firms like Konvoy Ventures, MetaLab Ventures and Banana Capital. Angel investors such as Peanut founder Michelle Kennedy, and investors Mengting Bönsch and Dr. Ekaterina Damer also pitched in. “As children are introduced to technology younger and younger, the need for safe, non-addictive content has never been more urgent,” Cash said in a press release. “We are laser focused on making the healthiest digital content for kids that challenges what traditional learning apps can be.” In addition to revolutionizing screen time, she also worked hard to cultivate a “diverse cap table” – or, a group of investors that isn’t solely comprised of white men. As it turns out, that was easier said than accomplished. “e had a really tough time finding female investors for this round, something that was not the case in the past,” Cash wrote in a LinkedIn post. It’s not her imagination, or a fluke – research shows that women account for just shy of 15% of all investors in the U.S. Still, she held off on finishing the round until she had the type of investors she wanted on board. “We were so thrilled to have some really awesome investors in our corner, but it just didn't sit right to close without a single woman on the cap table (especially given our product and customer),” Cash added. The money she pulled in from her intentionally diverse pool of investors will be used, first and foremost, to make Pok Pok’s suite of offerings available to Android users. “We’ve had parents banging down our door for years asking for Android, so we’re thrilled to take this step,” she added, noting that they already have a waitlist with thousands of parents signed on. This was Cash’s second fundraising effort, after successfully completing a $3 million seed round back in 2022 – mere days after giving birth, no less. She was “in the thick of financial diligence with investors while 9 months pregnant,” she told us back then, and formally closed the round mid-May of that year, when she was just 4 days postpartum. No matter the hurdles she faces, Cash’s primary goal remains the same today as it was when we first interviewed her: To be “the broccoli of the app store” for concerned parents to turn to. She added to us: “We’re empowering kids while giving parents peace of mind that what they’re doing is awesome and educational.”

Diversity in Investment

She Just Raised a $6 Million Series A Round – After Waiting for Women Investors

Report: Women- and Minority-Owned Investment Firms are On the Rise

The Story Exchange

Diversity in Investment

She Just Raised a $6 Million Series A Round – After Waiting for Women Investors

Report: Women- and Minority-Owned Investment Firms are On the Rise

The Story Exchange

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