With its colorful text and whimsical, cartoonish animations, the website for Spice Capital looks more like the online portfolio of a recent art school graduate than the landing page of a venture capital firm. But perhaps that’s the point.
Maya Bakhai, 28, founded her company in October 2021 with the goal of adding some seasoning to the predominantly white, male, fleece-vest-clad field of venture capital. According to recent data, companies founded by women receive less than 3% of all venture capital investments, and women make up less than 15% of investors. “In past jobs, whenever a company’s branding or messaging or team diversity was bland, I would always say, ‘We need to add some spice to that,’” said Bakhai, whose CV includes stints at the accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thirty Five Ventures, the venture capital firm co-owned by the basketball star Kevin Durant.
