Amber Atherton of Zyper and Iba Masood of TARA on Raising a Series A as a Female Founder

TL;DR

Two female founders (Iba Masood of Tara AI, Amber Atherton of Zyper) recount their Series A fundraising processes, which ranged from 9 days to 60 days to term sheet. They emphasize that selecting the right partner (not the fund brand or valuation) is critical, running a structured process with an investment memo and organized data room accelerates closure, and founders should maintain authenticity

Key insights

• Writing an investment memo that does “the VC’s job for them” and sending it after the first meeting helps advance the process.
• A term sheet is merely a letter of intent; the round does not close until cash is in the bank, which can take 60+ days after signing.
• Creating artificial urgency (e.g., falsely claiming other offers) is dangerous because the VC community is small and transparent.