Sara Deshpande brings 'tough love' to seed investing — and why she's not backing down in a turbulent market

Courtesy of Sara Deshpande, Ava Horton/BI

• Deshpande has spent the past decade looking for the next big consumer trends.
• She's one of the world's top seed investors, backing companies like Carrot Fertility and Wildtype.
• Read "The Seed 40: The best women early-stage investors of 2025."

Sara Deshpande first met Rene Caissie, the CEO of Medeloop, in 2022 at Startup Garage, the Stanford business school class she helps teach. He pitched her a fledgling startup idea.