Funding Criteria & Eligibility
Guidelines to help you determine if your company is a good fit
Golden Seeds is always looking for new, exciting women-led companies.
Golden Seeds invests in early-stage, women-led U.S. companies with strong leadership, scalable models, and market potential. Typical rounds range from $250K-$2M, with valuations under $10M. We fund select tech, healthcare, and consumer ventures that demonstrate proof of concept and growth readiness.
Please carefully review our investment criteria. If you meet the criteria, we welcome your application.
Eligibility
Golden Seeds accepts applications only from women-led companies domiciled in the U.S.Eligible companies must have at least one woman in an operating C-suite role.
While many have a female founder or CEO, we also consider companies with women in other executive positions.
When evaluating leadership, we consider:
- Does the female executive have power and influence in the company?
- Does she own a “fair” amount of company equity, given her role and the stage of the company?
What We Look For
- A capable management team with domain expertise
- A scalable business model
- An addressable market of at least $500 million
- Limited capital expenditure requirements
- Opportunities that can be accelerated with support from our investors
- A product or service in beta (versus alpha) stage of development that has been created with input from clients or potential clients
- “Proof of concept” revenue or significant pilots, except for health care bio/pharma, diagnostics, and devices companies
- A plausible exit strategy within 5-8 years
- Valuation at first funding is typically below $10 million
- Typically seeking first-round of funding of $250,000-$2,000,000
Sector-Specific Criteria
For consumer product companies, additional criteria include:
- Annual run rate revenue over $1,000,000
- Gross margins over 40%
For health care companies (bio/pharma, diagnostics, and devices), additional investment considerations include:
- Strong, Defensible Moat
- Protectable intellectual property with filings underway or granted.
- Clear evidence of differentiation vs. competitors. - Large Market with High Unmet Need
- Solutions targeting significant clinical or commercial pain points.
- Market size and adoption potential aligned with VC return expectations. - Early Commercial or Clinical Traction
- For devices: Meaningful and positive in vitro, or ideally, in vivo data validated externally.
- For diagnostics: Strong retrospective, ideally prospective data validated externally.
- For digital/health tech models: Early customer pilots, traction, or partnerships with health systems.
- For consumer health (OTC): $500k ARR.
- For Biopharma: after IND stage. - Validated Science
- Verifiable, peer-reviewed science supporting the concept. - Regulatory & Clinical Pathway and Reimbursement Readiness
- Articulated plan and projected timelines for FDA/CE/other approvals.
- Defined pathway for required studies, with understanding of cost, design, and endpoints.
- Clinical partnerships ensuring patient access for trial and adoption.
- Clear reimbursement pathway or evidence of willingness-to-pay models. - Scalable Business Model
- Manufacturing/supply chain readiness or rationale if not required.
- Strong go-to-market strategy with potential for rapid scaling. - Ecosystem Fit
- Evidence of commercial/strategic partnerships in therapeutics that support scaling and exit pathways.
Note: GS typically does not invest in therapeutics
If you have any questions regarding our criteria, please reach out to us at info@goldenseeds.com.
What We Don't Fund
The following categories do not meet our investment criteria:- Venture Funds: Golden Seeds invests directly in early-stage operating companies, not pooled investment vehicles. Venture funds have different structures, timelines, and risk profiles that fall outside our angel investing model.
- Ventures with a large real estate component: Companies whose primary value is tied to real estate or property assets are not a fit for our early-stage investment strategy. We focus on scalable businesses where growth is driven by innovation, not real estate holdings.
- Television or radio programs: Media productions typically lack the scalable business structure and exit potential required for angel investing. These projects often rely on sponsorship or episodic funding rather than repeatable, high-growth revenue.
- Film, theater, or art productions: Creative productions operate on project-based timelines and do not offer the long-term scalability or exit pathways we look for. Our investments prioritize companies developing products or services with broad market adoption potential.
- Non-profit organizations: We fund for-profit companies with growth and exit opportunities that can generate investor returns. Non-profits operate under different financial models and missions that don't align with angel investment structures.
- Companies domiciled outside of the U.S.: Golden Seeds invests only in U.S.-domiciled companies to maintain alignment with regulatory frameworks and our nationwide deal flow process. International companies fall outside our investment scope.
- Companies using the 506(c) exemption or Reg CF (crowdfunding) or where our investments are subject to a broker/dealer fee: We do not participate in offerings that publicly solicit investment (506(c), Reg CF) or transactions requiring broker/dealer fees. These models introduce regulatory complexities and fee structures that don't align with our investment process.
Not Sure if you Qualify?
If you feel you don’t currently qualify for Golden Seeds funding, or are unsure, but would like to engage with us and learn more, consider attending an Information Session or Office Hours.
Information Sessions offer a brief overview of the basics of raising capital and how the Golden Seeds process works and Office Hours allow entrepreneurs to get feedback on their company from Golden Seeds members before applying.
Information Sessions Office Hours
Ready to Apply?
You’ve reviewed our investment criteria — now take the next step toward funding with Golden Seeds.