Leslie Goldman
General Partner / The Artemis Fund
Biography
Leslie, a dedicated angel investor, is General Partner & Co-Founder of The Artemis Fund, the first female founded, female focused VC fund based in Houston. The Artemis Fund was founded on the principal that investing in women will drive greater returns for its Limited Partners. Artemis portfolio companies are tech-enabled seed and series A stage companies with (a) stellar management teams, (b) traction (ie revenue or a concrete pipeline), (c) customers who are passionate about the products and services, (d) a clear path to high growth/scalability, and (e) a solution to a real world problem.
Leslie’s experience as an active angel investor and as an LP in eight other VC funds, led her to establish the Artemis Fund with Stephanie Campbell and Diana Murakhovskaya. The team decided to capitalize on the proven outperformance of diverse teams, and deliver a triple bottom line to investors. Together, the trio brings a cross generational perspective, diverse backgrounds (MBA, JD and engineer/wall street trader) and a huge network for deal sourcing and vetting companies.
In addition, Leslie is a board member of the Houston Angel Network (most active in the US), an Investment Committee member of Blue Ivy Ventures, a Strategic Advisor to the Rebel Fund, a YC Fund in Silicon Valley, a board member and advisory board member of early stage companies, and a frequent speaker on Venture Capital financing, diversity in the startup community, unconscious bias in corporations, boards, hiring and venture capital, and on angel investing. She is also and a member of the Board of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Utah chapter.
Leslie practiced corporate law both in large law firms and in-house (as a general counsel) for over 25 years. Prior to founding The Artemis Fund, Leslie spent three years recruiting C-suite legal executives as a member of Major, Lindsey & Africa (“MLA”), the nation’s leading executive legal search firm. She also worked with the Board & Corporate Governance practice of MLA’s sister company, Allegis Partners, to assist with identifying and placing top talent for boards.