128 Founding and building a female-led VC firm with Jessica Rasmussen of Two Magnolias
Tue Jan 27 2026
Founding a new VC firm isn't easy, and one headed by two women is exceptionally rare in the UK. Jessica Rasmussen co-founded Two Magnolia to invest in underrepresented founders and the regions so can tell us all about the challenges of founding and building a female-led firm.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
how Jessica got into angel investingwhy she started a VC firmthe gaps she found in the marketthe challenges of there being no playbook for starting a fundraising money to invest in underrepresented foundersthe investment casedeveloping the right investment pipelinehow VCs just need to do the right thing!comparing first and second time fundraising
Jessica's journey has been really interesting and she gives great insight into what she has learnt along the way. Enjoy!
00:50 What is Two Magnolias
03:10 how Jessica got into angel investing
06:50 why start a venture capital firm
09:00 how she identified a gap in the market
10:15 why choose running GP/LP over EIS fund or VCT
13:10 the lack of a playbook for starting a VC fund
18:00 is UK venture capital protectionist?
21:20 the challenges of raising money to invest in underrepresented founders and regions
26:40 investment case for underrepresented founders
29:00 how do you find companies with underrepresented founders
30:45 support for companies in the regions - role of government and local networks
33:40 has support for underrepresented founders stalled recently?
37:00 changing the numbers - just do the right thing
38:40 comparing fundraising for a first & second fund
40:00 favourite questions
LinksTwo Magnolias website: https://www.twomagnolias.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaTrillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle
BioJessica Rasmussen, Co-Founder & CEO, Two Magnolias
Jessica Rasmussen is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Two Magnolias, an early-stage UK venture capital firm established to address structural opportunity gaps within the UK venture ecosystem.
Prior to founding Two Magnolias, Jessica spent three decades in investment banking as a Global Markets specialist in Fixed Income. She held senior leadership roles across international markets, including ten years at Bank of America where she led Macro Sales within the Fixed Income Division, covering both Foreign Exchange and Rates. Her career was defined by managing complex market risk, advising institutional clients, and building high-performing teams in highly regulated, global environments.
Since co-founding Two Magnolias in 2019 with Marie Korde, Jessica has led the firm from its origins as an angel investment...
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Founding a new VC firm isn't easy, and one headed by two women is exceptionally rare in the UK. Jessica Rasmussen co-founded Two Magnolia to invest in underrepresented founders and the regions so can tell us all about the challenges of founding and building a female-led firm. Amongst other topics, we talk about: how Jessica got into angel investingwhy she started a VC firmthe gaps she found in the marketthe challenges of there being no playbook for starting a fundraising money to invest in underrepresented foundersthe investment casedeveloping the right investment pipelinehow VCs just need to do the right thing!comparing first and second time fundraising Jessica's journey has been really interesting and she gives great insight into what she has learnt along the way. Enjoy! 00:50 What is Two Magnolias 03:10 how Jessica got into angel investing 06:50 why start a venture capital firm 09:00 how she identified a gap in the market 10:15 why choose running GP/LP over EIS fund or VCT 13:10 the lack of a playbook for starting a VC fund 18:00 is UK venture capital protectionist? 21:20 the challenges of raising money to invest in underrepresented founders and regions 26:40 investment case for underrepresented founders 29:00 how do you find companies with underrepresented founders 30:45 support for companies in the regions - role of government and local networks 33:40 has support for underrepresented founders stalled recently? 37:00 changing the numbers - just do the right thing 38:40 comparing fundraising for a first & second fund 40:00 favourite questions LinksTwo Magnolias website: https://www.twomagnolias.co.uk/ Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen Suggested books and mediaTrillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle BioJessica Rasmussen, Co-Founder & CEO, Two Magnolias Jessica Rasmussen is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Two Magnolias, an early-stage UK venture capital firm established to address structural opportunity gaps within the UK venture ecosystem. Prior to founding Two Magnolias, Jessica spent three decades in investment banking as a Global Markets specialist in Fixed Income. She held senior leadership roles across international markets, including ten years at Bank of America where she led Macro Sales within the Fixed Income Division, covering both Foreign Exchange and Rates. Her career was defined by managing complex market risk, advising institutional clients, and building high-performing teams in highly regulated, global environments. Since co-founding Two Magnolias in 2019 with Marie Korde, Jessica has led the firm from its origins as an angel investment...