by BOTWC Staff
This lady boss is making a fortune for women’s health!
After the final close of its initial funding, an Atlanta-based, Black woman-owned venture capital firm has taken the lead position.
Maria Toler Velissaris has always been a diligent businesswoman. She founded Wakeboxes, a student storage company, when she was only a junior in college. It was eventually purchased by Uhaul and is still in operation today, renamed Collegeboxes!
Maria then started SteelSky to support women-owned companies. Her objective is to further enhance women’s accessibility to and experience with healthcare by engaging in medical technologies such as medical devices, digital health, and ePharmacy. SteelSky recently completed the closing of its initial fund, which closed with $72 million in total assets, making it the biggest venture capital fund specializing in women’s healthcare in the world.
“Women’s health is an area of tremendous growth potential, and SteelSky is building a pipeline of the next billion-dollar healthcare giants,” said Velissaris, who has invested in over 20 female-led companies. We are proud to invest in entrepreneurs who are making significant advances in women’s healthcare around the world.”
The American Hospital Association (AHA), Blue Shield of California, MultiCare Hospital System, Henry Ford Hospital System, Essential Access Health, and others are among the fund’s healthcare strategic partners.
Velissaris was recently awarded the 2022 Eisenhower Fellowship, which allowed her to travel to Rwanda and Spain to advance the state of maternal healthcare. Her alma mater, Wake Forest University, also featured her in an online spread.
Maria, keep fighting for women’s health! We are really proud of you.