Women VCs, Vaxi Taxis, Nuclear Backsies 🚕

Seeing the state of local pharma, Villhauer enlisted independent pharmacies across the rural counties and trained their pharmacists to administer at-home shots. At a time when mom-and-pop drug stores are fighting to stay open throughout rural America, the partnership with Vaxi Taxi provided some much-needed cash flow. 

The Future of Mobile Vaccines

Home health isn’t an area that pharmacists have traditionally ventured into because;

1. it isn’t reimbursed well.
2. Plus, pharmacists’ authority or legality to deliver health care services varies from state to state making it difficult to expand business. 

However, less than a year after Vaxi Taxi made its maiden voyage, COVID-19 vaccines became widely available without any state-specific restrictions. With the pandemic generating a client base willing to pay cash for vaccines brought to their homes, mobile vans offered rural drugstores a new way to meet that demand.

The entire business idea of mobile vaccines is to make shots more accessible in rural areas where nearest medical centres are hours away and local drugstores are helpless and cash-strapped.

Over the past year, numerous notable women investors have left their roles at established firms to launch funds of their own. From Katie Haun spinning out of Andreessen Horowitz to Sydney Thomas leaving Precursor Ventures to, most recently, Sarah Guo moving on from Greylock, we are amid a wave of new emerging women managers.

There isn’t one specific reason why so many women have chosen this path this year, but rather a multitude of possible catalysts.

For one, some women may spin out because the rigid structure of traditional venture firms and succession strategies may prevent VCs from moving up into more prominent roles. Only 14.3% of check writers are women and well over half of venture funds still don’t have a woman partner — but probably women in other roles — according to industry nonprofit All Raise.

Countries around the world are putting scrapped nuclear energy plans back on the table. They're reconsidering the cost-benefit of nuclear energy. Reasons: soaring fossil fuel prices, a European natural gas crisis, and the realities of climate change.

Here’s a quick rundown on countries that are reentering the nuclear energy game.

• The Netherlands plans to build its first nuclear plant since 1973.
• The UK is constructing a nuclear power plant to power 6 million homes.
• Egypt is building its first nuclear reactor, in partnership with Russia.
• Japan is restarting idled nuclear power plants 11 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
• France is nationalizing energy giant EDF to boost its nuclear energy industry.
• The US announced $6 billion to keep nuclear plants open.

Kukuwa Kyereboah, a dance teacher of 40 years, and an ACE-certified trainer, realized she could help others achieve their fitness goals, while sharing the richness of her native African culture with her community in the US. She created a high-energy fitness program using African dance to target muscles other dance programs did not. She first started posting classes on YouTube in 2015. The unique program was an instant success with American audiences. 

Just like Kukuwa, there are thousands of creators on YouTube spreading their knowledge and services worldwide. Over the years, YouTube has helped creators and entrepreneurs build businesses, learn new skills, and earn revenue from their videos. 

Recently, Oxford Economics released an analysis on the State of the Creator Economy specifically highlighting the importance of YouTube. 

Here are its findings.

• YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed more than $25 billion to the American economy and supported more than 425,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2021. 
• 85% of SMBs agree that YouTube played a role in helping them grow their customer base by reaching new audiences 
• 79% of SMBs agree that YouTube is a cost-effective way of providing staff training.