As families throughout the U.S. gear up to honor Mother’s Day this Sunday, Allison Stern is looking past just a single day of recognition.

Stern has recently secured $10 million in commitments for her first early-stage fund, Mother Ventures, which exclusively targets mothers as consumers.

“In the U.S., moms account for 85% of household expenditures and possess $2.4 trillion in purchasing power,” Stern (seen below) shared with TechCrunch. “The statistics reveal that moms drive purchasing decisions, and they truly are a distinctive economic force.”

As a mother of two, Stern is leveraging that financial influence by supporting startups that address the requirements of contemporary mothers. Since the inception of Mother Ventures two years ago, she has already invested $4 million into 13 startups. Her portfolio features Coral Care, which facilitates instant appointments with pediatric specialists for children experiencing developmental challenges, and Tin Can, a trendy Wi-Fi-enabled “landline” crafted in a retro style for children.

Prior to establishing her own fund, she co-founded Tubular Labs, a social video analytics company she helped scale to $25 million in annual recurring revenue before its acquisition by private equity in 2023, and served as an operating partner at The Chernin Group (TCG), a firm specializing in consumer-focused growth equity.

Part of TCG’s investment strategy involved supporting companies catering to “overlooked unique demographics with financial resources,” such as Barstool Sports, which initially focused on Boston sports enthusiasts, she mentioned.

Upon launching her own fund, Stern recognized mothers as a similarly underserved demographic with significant potential for high returns. “I felt that motherhood represents the ultimate niche that actually isn’t a niche,” she commented,

Stern persuaded Tony James, the former president and COO of Blackstone and current board chair of Costco, to support Mother Ventures as a key LP. Other contributors to the fund encompass Jessica Rolph, founder of the child development company Lovevery, alongside female leaders from Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Sesame Street, she indicated.

She contends that millennial and Gen Z mothers have different expectations for products, ranging from on-demand transport options like Zum, to meal delivery services from DoorDash, and fintech applications like Greenlight that enable parents to fund a child’s debit card instantly.

“We desire healthy options. We look for subscription services. We seek digital communities,” she stated.

Nevertheless, Stern aims for her fund not to be viewed solely as one that invests in parenting technology. “It’s a consumer fund, and concentrating on the mother as the consumer permits us to broaden our investments,” she explained.