About NewWave Law
OUR HEARTBEAT IS FOR WOMEN FOUNDERS TO BE Fully Funded
SO YOU CAN BECOME THE NEW WAVE OF CHANGE-MAKERS AND BECOME THE FUNDERS WHO SUPPORT THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN FOUNDERS
meet mary
My name is Mary Hodges & I’m the Founding Attorney of NewWave Law, a boutique law firm focused on preparing women founders of tech startups for angel & venture capital investment – & crashing into the gender investment gap like a tidal wave.
What, like it’s hard?
My team & I do things a little – ok, a lot – differently around here. We value integrity even more than we value casually smashing the startup patriarchy – & that’s truly saying something.
I’ve worked with startups for nearly eight years & it’s become my personal mission to get A LOT more women FULLY funded.
Early-stage investment is crucial to a company’s success – but you know that already.
You’re in the game. You’ve got a vision that won’t quit. You’re ready to put your ALL in front of dream investors.
I see you. It takes an entrepreneur to know an entrepreneur.
One of my major competitive advantages as a startup lawyer for women entrepreneurs is that I am a woman entrepreneur.
I ditched the corporate setting a long time ago to start my own firm, carve my own path, & work with women brave enough to do the same.
I understand what keeps you up at night in a way most lawyers never will. So when I say I care about your journey as a founder & that building a genuine relationship with you is important to me, I mean it.
We’re in this together.
And sister, I’ve got you. It’s YOUR time to make waves.
THE FIERCELY FEMININE BACKSTORY OF NEWWAVE LAW
The firm opened in 2014 ready to punch a hole through the sky in an effort to make sure small business owners would succeed for real.
Previously, Mary graduated Magna Cum Laude with a joint Law degree + MBA in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University, earned her Masters of Law in Tax from Washington University, & worked for 4 years with a small law firm focused on corporate work for business & securities law.
There was a buzzing tech startup scene in St. Louis at the time & that’s exactly how she found her way into working with startups & loving every minute of it.
After 7 years of working with tech startups, it wasn’t exactly a secret that women founders were being left out of investment opportunities.
So Mary made a commitment to herself & female tech founders everywhere to reach for a deeper meaning in her work – and be the one to champion these powerhouse women.
There’s just something about the energy that women bring into anything we do – which is why we niched the firm to focus exclusively on women-founded startups.
We rebranded to NewWave Law in 2021 & are licensed in both Missouri & California to crash into the investment gap like a tsunami of fierce, feminine POWER.
STATS THAT KEEP US UP AT NIGHT
Despite women making up roughly 30% of all founders (HIGH FIVE), women-founded companies receive only 2-3% of ALL venture capital investment (BOO HISS).
This is even after women-led companies generate 35% higher ROI than all-male teams.
A 4-part chamber choir singing “WTF” at full volume is appropriate here.
During times of economic uncertainty, investors scale back from investing in women-owned startups & other underrepresented groups because they want to put their capital in “safer” investments – aka – white men.
This means implicit bias makes investors think white men are a safer bet & that women pose a higher risk.
White men represent 58% of all VC investors, but manage 93% of VC dollars & currently wield the power in this space.
Raise your fist if you want to be part of the tidal wave that changes this.
It is imperative that women have money – because successful startup founders often go into angel & venture investing (aka – from founder to funder).
More women who get funded translates to more women in the angel & venture space.
More women in the angel & venture space translates to more women founders in the next generation getting investment & support from those women investors.
Hell. YEAH.
A NOTE TO FOUNDERS
WE BELIEVE IN YOU. At NewWave Law, we’re closing the investment gap together.
Your choice to invest in the nonnegotiable of setting up the right legal structures & to lean on the guidance of our startup-focused firm shows you’re serious about your company.
But we all knew that already.
And we can tell you from first-hand experience that your investors will come to know this real quick too. Talk about appealing.
As a woman, you already face obstacles in getting funding. Together, we’ll make DAMN sure your legal structure is not one of them.
A misstep in setting up your company or knowing exactly how to issue & manage equity could cost you an investment deal – & we’re not about that life.
You’re too brilliant. Your vision is too important.
So we’ve got you. WE BELIEVE IN YOU. And we are so inspired by you.
Everything we do revolves around making sure you’re positioned to make some !?$&^%# WAVES.
We instinctively look towards the future – just like you.
And in our future, there’s a world where we’ve CLOSED the gender investment gap. Where women are empowered. Where we’re gaining wealth. Where we’re wielding our social & economic power for a much greater good.