Good day. With the onslaught of new hazards startups face these days—a trade war with China, supply-chain uncertainties, fears of a recession—it’s easy to forget perennial issues haven’t gone away. For women startup founders, that includes harassment.

Roughly a quarter of women working in tech say they have experienced discrimination or harassment, according to a report last month by advocacy group WomenTech Network. The report surveyed more than 4,200 women worldwide.

Women-led startups also have to deal with a lopsided fundraising market. U.S.-based startups founded by women—without a male co-founder—last year drew just 2% of total venture-capital funding and 6.5% of all VC deals, according to PitchBook.

Jane Fisher faced both issues head on. Fisher, who is raising seed funds for Imii, an AI-powered immigrant-support tool, says last month she contacted police about a man she says began stalking her after a startup networking event. To gain her confidence, she says, the man lined her up with an investor who only added to her problems. WSJ Pro recently spoke with Fisher. Edited excerpts below.

WSJ Pro: When did you suspect that something wasn’t right about your networking connection and his investor?

Fisher: Initially, the introduction seemed promising. A fellow founder I met at a conference offered to connect me with a VC fund interested in impact-driven startups. He claimed a personal connection to our mission and expressed an almost instant willingness to invest. But his lack of probing questions and absence of concrete details raised red flags. Researching the fund, I found inconsistencies: a portfolio made up of a fairly random selection of companies, inactive links and founders who either hadn’t received funding or were still waiting on promised investment.

Meanwhile, the person who made the intro started displaying borderline obsessive behavior—constantly messaging me, calling and sharing content, both work-related and completely unrelated, across all communication channels: WhatsApp, LinkedIn and both of my email addresses. That’s when things took a turn from suspicious to concerning.

WSJ Pro: When did you decide to cut ties with the investor?

Fisher: The turning point came when I heard back from several founders listed in the fund’s portfolio and pipeline—both on their website and deck. One revealed they had signed a term sheet over a year ago but never received the funds. Another clarified that, despite being listed, they never secured investment—yet I later discovered one of their co-founders is coincidentally the co-manager of the fund. Things made less and less sense.

WSJ Pro: What happened next?

Fisher: That was the end to our story with an investor, but not with the introducer. His hyperobsession with me didn’t stop there. He kept pestering me just as frequently. My firm rejection of his romantic advances didn’t help. Eventually, I had to block him everywhere.

WSJ Pro: What lessons have you learned from the incident? Any advice for other startup founders?

Fisher: First and foremost, due diligence is a two-way street. I was surprised to realize that even experienced founders sometimes skip this step and it can lead to catastrophic consequences. Second, your boundaries are not up for negotiation. Not for a pitch. Not for potential funding. Not for anyone. Especially if you’re a female founder. We’re already fighting hard enough to be heard, funded and taken seriously. Personal safety shouldn’t be part of the battle.

And now on to the news...

IPO blues. A reeling stock market is causing problems for cybersecurity providers looking to go public, WSJ Pro reports.

• While a predicted explosion in cybersecurity initial public offerings never fully materialized, enough companies are doing well enough that they face the choice of a listing or being acquired. Funding hasn’t returned to the highs of the early decade, but triple-digit millions aren’t unheard of in later rounds, and the resulting big valuations are forcing IPO conversations. 
   
• Tampa Bay, Fla.-based ReliaQuest, for instance, recently raised $500 million, which places its valuation at about $3.4 billion, well past the maturation level that many companies would consider listing. The company is actively preparing to go public, said Brian Murphy, ReliaQuest’s chief executive, in an interview on the sidelines of the RSAC Conference.

OpenAI abandoned a controversial effort to place its juggernaut artificial-intelligence business under control of a for-profit entity and will instead remain under its founding nonprofit board, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move could complicate the company’s future fundraising efforts. Unlike traditional boards, which must act in the best interest of shareholders, OpenAI’s nonprofit board has a fiduciary duty “to humanity.” OpenAI started work on a change to its business structure after CEO Sam Altman’s surprise firing and reinstatement in 2023. Its big investors, including Microsoft, watched his temporary ouster from the sidelines, unable to wield official power over the outcome.

Palantir Technologies raised its full-year outlook after logging higher profit and revenue in the first quarter, fueled by continued demand for its artificial-intelligence products, WSJ reports. However, shares fell in late trading, marking a turn from their rapid rise in valuation over the past year. The Denver company now expects full-year sales of $3.89 billion to $3.9 billion, up from a prior view of $3.74 billion to $3.76 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet modeled total sales of $3.75 billion for the year. For the current quarter, Palantir guided for revenue of $934 million to $938 million, ahead of the $899.4 million that analysts forecast.

Geoengineering startup Rainmaker Technology, based in El Segundo, Calif., raised a $17 million Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation by Starship Ventures, 1517 Ventures, Long Journey Ventures and others. The company also secured $8 million in debt. The startup, led by founder and Chief Executive Augustus Doricko, previously raised $6.3 million in a seed round. Rainmaker’s cloud-seeding technology induces precipitation to help communities cope with droughts. It uses a drone to release silver iodide into clouds to more effectively produce rain and snow. Rainmaker said it’s generating revenue from operational cloud-seeding contracts with state and municipal governments including in Texas, California, Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. Doricko said Rainmaker has radar-based evidence that it has produced man-made precipitation, but also said that measuring the exact amount of rain or snow is difficult.   — Yuliya Chernova

People

Saltbox Mgmt, a digital transformation consultancy focused exclusively on the Salesforce ecosystem, appointed Brian Wagner as chief revenue officer. He most recently served as vice president of revenue and commerce cloud specialists at Salesforce.

Deals

Aviation investment manager SKY Leasing acquired JetBlue Ventures for an undisclosed amount.

Onebeat, an inventory management platform, picked up a $15 million investment led by Schooner Capital.

Exterra Carbon Solutions, a Canada-based startup transforming asbestos waste into critical minerals, raised 20 million Canadian dollars, roughly $14.5 million, in Series A funding co-led by Clean Energy Ventures and BDC Capital.

RightRev, a Roseville, Calif.-based automated revenue management provider, closed a $13 million Series A round co-led by Cheyenne Ventures and Innovius Capital.

Paramark, a San Francisco-headquartered platform for analyzing marketing spend, has raised $8 million in funding, including a $6 million seed round led by Greylock.

Alta Resource Technologies, a Boulder, Colo.-based mining technology startup, added $4.4 million in seed funding co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures, bringing the round total to $10 million.

Diio, a Chile-based sales assistant platform, was seeded with a $2.5 million investment led by Base10 Partners.

• Hedge fund goes on losing streak after locking in investors
   
• Ares CEO says tariffs are unlikely to trigger private loan impairment
   
• Tariffs threaten semiconductor supply chains, chip-equipment maker warns
   
• Eutelsat appoints Jean-François Fallacher as new CEO

• JPMorgan Chase axes startup-VC platform Capital Connect, but remains committed to innovation economy (Fortune)
   
• What the ‘2% of VC funding’ stat gets wrong about women entrepreneurs (Fast Company)

This newsletter was compiled by Marc Vartabedian and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley, Angus Loten and Marc Vartabedian.

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