Image Credits: Jenny Liu

For one, she was surrounded by wellness founders at her local gym who loved testing new products and building community. Second, Liu also realized that many of these founders, especially women and minorities, were struggling to fund their ideas due to limited access to founder networks.

To bridge this gap, she launched Crush It Ventures, a wellness-focused early-stage fund. The firm hopes to back companies building across the wellness sector, including in mental health, fitness and sport, beauty, and hospitality. On Thursday, it announced the final close of a $5 million Fund I.