Build it Different, with Naseem Sayani

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Naseem Sayani. This episode is about seeing gaps in an industry and taking bold action to close them. Naseem was at the forefront of digital strategy, launching a product studio within a global consulting firm. She built startups from the ground up and noticed a disturbing pattern: the capital wasn’t diverse, the founders weren’t diverse, and the products being created weren’t serving women. As one of only two female partners out of 45 worldwide, she knew something had to change. When her own fertility journey collided with these realizations, Naseem drew a line in the sand. Now, she’s channeling her expertise into Emmeline Ventures, a seed-stage fund investing in tech and innovation that are helping women live, thrive, and prosper.

Naseem is Co-Founder and General Partner at Emmeline Ventures, a seed-stage fund investing across healthcare, financial services, and sustainability, specifically where technology and innovation are helping women live and thrive. The fund has 23 companies in its portfolio, including Alloy Women’s Health, LunaJoy, WealthMore, and The Beans.

Naseem’s investing and business-building experience comes from 20+ years in executive leadership roles across management consulting, agency services, venture incubators, a corporate venture capital firm, and an active angel investor. She and her partners launched Emmeline Ventures with a deliberate focus on investing in solutions that unlock the spending power of women and expanding the 2% of venture capital that currently goes to female founders.

Naseem has an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she was awarded the Dean’s Leadership Award two years running, and a BA from UCLA in Business Economics, where she graduated cum laude.