The Helm
Venture capital firm; participated in Venus Aerospace's $20M Series A round (2022).
The Helm is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Lindsey Taylor Wood, Erin Shipley, and Emily Verellen Strom (Shipley and Verellen Strom have since departed). Current partners are Lindsey Taylor Wood (Founder & General Partner), Julie Weber (COO & General Partner, joined at Fund I's 2018 launch), and Olivia Fleming (Partner). Participated in Venus Aerospace's $20 million Series A round (April 2022).
Overview
- Firm
- The Helm
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Founded
- 2016
- AUM
- not disclosed
- Stages
- Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A
- Thesis
- The Helm invests in game-changing companies founded by women, framing itself around a funding-gap arbitrage: female-founded startups deliver stronger returns per dollar invested than all-male teams, yet receive a small fraction of VC dollars. Typical checks are around $500K with up to 35% reserved for follow-on investment.
- X / Twitter
- twitter.com/thehelmco
- Website
- thehelm.co
Portfolio companies1
Partners0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What is The Helm?
- The Helm invests in game-changing companies founded by women, framing itself around a funding-gap arbitrage: female-founded startups deliver stronger returns per dollar invested than all-male teams, yet receive a small fraction of VC dollars. Typical checks are around $500K with up to 35% reserved for follow-on investment.
- What stages does The Helm invest at?
- The Helm invests at Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A.
Sources & citations4
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
The Helm participated in Venus Aerospace's $20 million Series A round (April 2022); its portfolio page confirms the founders left Virgin Orbit in June 2020 to found the company
PR Newswire (Venus Aerospace): Venus Aerospace Raises $20 Million In Series A Funding Led By Prime Movers LabVerified2022-04-05 - 2
The Helm invests in game-changing companies founded by women; typical checks around $500K with up to 35% reserved for follow-on
The Helm: The Helm — FAQVerified2026-08-09 - 3
Built In NYC piece describing The Helm as an operating firm as of October 2017, predating its Fund I 2018 launch
Built In NYC: The Helm launchVerified2017-10-12 - 4
Lindsey Taylor Wood, Erin Shipley and Emily Verellen Strom founded The Helm in October 2016
Forbes: The Helm profileVerified2018-01-10