Join us as Kenny Anderson, Senior Retail Consultant, leads us in a discussion on fundraising with special guests Madeline Darcy, Founder & Managing Partner of Kaya Ventures, Allie Egan, Founder & CEO of Veracity, Kathey Guo, Associate, Hand Baldachin & Associates LLP and Emily Yeston, Co-Founder and CEO of Doré.
Madeline Darcy is a relationship-driven investor whose passion is supporting founders from the earliest stages of growth. Madeline’s experience lays at the intersection of consumer and tech, having spent the past decade as an operator, advisor, and investor in leading brands.
From her early days as an Apple Campus Rep and starting a business in her dorm room, to advising $1B initiatives at Fortune 500s, and becoming a GP at a leading consumer VC firm, Madeline has seen companies across every stage of their development and experienced many of the common scaling challenges firsthand.
A proud global citizen with multi-cultural heritage, Madeline is particularly excited to support diverse founders and funders. Madeline is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and earned her MBA from Harvard Business School.
Allie Egan began her career investing in consumer and beauty brands at L Catterton. Before founding Veracity, she was CEO of the fashion brand Cynthia Rowley and led the product, ecommerce, and digital marketing teams at Estee Lauder’s top brands, including La Mer, Clinique, and Origins. Allie is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Kathey Guo practices corporate, intellectual property and transactional law at HBA. Her practice focuses on corporate transactions including venture capital investments, financings and mergers and acquisitions as well as outside general counsel work, primarily in the fashion, lifestyle and technology industries. Prior to joining HBA, Kathey practiced corporate law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
Emily Yeston is the Co-Founder and CEO of Doré. After 5 years of working closely with Garance Doré to build her eponymous platform into a thriving digital media property, Emily became Garance’s business partner in 2016 and continued to be instrumental in leveraging Garance’s voice and influence to an ever-increasing international audience.
In 2020, Emily partnered with Garance as Co-Founder and CEO of Doré to bring clean, gentle, and effective Made-in-France skincare with a focus on sustainability and inclusivity.
Emily has worked closely with such brands as Net-A-Porter, Tiffany & Co., L’Oreal and Vince, and has a keen eye for commerce and content opportunities that leverage connection over clicks.
Her previous experience includes working with both brands and publications such as Lucky Magazine, WWD and Oscar de la Renta across production, editorial and public relations.
Emily has been invited to speak at conferences (RewardStyle, Altitude Summit) and universities (Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania) on the intersection of content and commerce.
Originally from Philadelphia, Emily now resides in Bedford, NY.
Café Co-Lab's are small, bi-weekly networking groups focused on specific topics. They are an opportunity for co-lab members to connect, share resources , and engage with other members.
All co-lab events are free to members. Zoom details will be posted on the day of the event in our private community Slack in the #cafe-co-lab channel. All questions can be directed to info@jointhecolab.com. To become a member and receive access to these exciting events, join us here.