As families across the U.S. prepare to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day this Sunday, Allison Stern is looking beyond the single day of appreciation.<\/p>\n
Stern just closed $10 million in commitments for her debut early-stage fund, Mother Ventures, which focuses exclusively on the mother as a consumer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the U.S., moms are responsible for 85% of household purchases and have $2.4 trillion in spending power,\u201d Stern (pictured below) told TechCrunch. \u201cThe numbers say that moms are the buyers, and they really are a very unique economic engine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stern, a mother of two, is tapping into that spending clout by backing startups that reflect the needs of modern mothers. Since launching Mother Ventures two years ago, she has already deployed $4 million into 13 startups. Her portfolio includes Coral Care, which allows instant booking of pediatric specialists for children with developmental delays, and Tin Can, a\u00a0popular\u00a0Wi-Fi-enabled \u201clandline\u201d designed as a retro-style<\/span> phone for kids.<\/p>\n Before launching her own fund, she co-founded Tubular Labs, a social video analytics startup she helped grow to $25 million in annual recurring revenue prior to its 2023 acquisition by private equity, and served as an operating partner at The Chernin Group (TCG), a consumer-focused growth equity firm.<\/p>\n Part of TCG\u2019s investment thesis included backing companies serving \u201coverlooked unique audiences with spending power,\u201d such as Barstool Sports, which originally targeted Boston sports fans, she said.<\/p>\n When Stern set out to launch her own fund, she identified mothers as a similarly underserved market with the potential to deliver superior returns. \u201cI felt like motherhood is the ultimate niche that\u2019s not really a niche,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> Stern convinced Tony James, the former president and COO of Blackstone and current board chair of Costco, to back Mother Ventures as an anchor LP. Other backers of the fund include Jessica Rolph, founder of the child development startup Lovevery, as well as female executives from Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Sesame Street, she said.<\/p>\n She argues that millennial and Gen Z mothers expect a different set of products, from on-demand transportation services such as Zum, to ready-meal delivery from DoorDash, and fintech tools like Greenlight that allow parents to instantly fund a child\u2019s debit card.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want healthy things. We want subscription things. We want digital communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n However, Stern doesn\u2019t want her fund to be perceived as one that invests only in parenting tech. \u201cIt\u2019s a consumer fund, and focus on the mom as the consumer allows us to be wider in our bets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mother-Ventures-Official-Photo-1-e1778261948450.png?w=680\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n