Lindsey Taylor Wood spent years working to empower women and girls through nonprofits. But she grew disenchanted with the slow pace of the nonprofit world—and realized that some of its strengths could help improve the quicker-moving world of venture capital.

"I grew disenchanted with philanthropy," said Taylor Wood. "You can look by and large at any metric of success, impact, or advancement—for reproductive rights, women in the C-suite—and the net result is stagnation."

That's why she co-founded The Helm, a new venture capital fund that officially launched on Thursday. The fund invests in female founders, and it takes a cue from one area where philanthropy really excels to hopefully improve the impact of its investments.

The Helm's venture fund—aiming to include 40 members and a minimum of $2 million in capital—will invest in companies that have both a female founder and a female CEO. The firm is aiming to invest in between eight and 12 startups in its first year and write them checks for at least $200,000. So far, they've heard from female-led startups working on artificial intelligence, fintech, the future of work, sustainability, software, and a whole array of ideas.

Read the full article by Emma Hinchliffe at Mashable