Key Takeaways
- • AMH Catalyst Center launched Capital Passport, an AI-powered platform that evaluates pitch decks using standardized investor criteria to reduce bias in founder assessment and improve access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
- • Jenny Flores, former Wells Fargo impact investment fund manager overseeing $420 million in capital allocation, created Capital Passport based on a UC Berkeley 2025 study revealing 63% of women founders surveyed reported gender bias in venture capital and 74% struggled to identify funding sources.
- • Capital Passport applies 10 consistent investment criteria in uniform scoring thresholds across all pitches, eliminating relationship-based gatekeeping and enabling objective, repeatable evaluation regardless of founder background or network.
- • A beta founder used the platform to revise her pitch deck and closed $100,000 in funding within weeks, demonstrating potential early-stage efficacy for capital formation acceleration.
- • The platform targets sector-specific analytical frameworks including health tech, biotech, and deep tech, positioning Capital Passport as a scalable solution to systemic funding gaps for women and underrepresented founders.
Summary
Amplifying Markets for Her (AMH) Catalyst Center announced the launch of Capital Passport on September 8, 2026, positioning the AI-powered tool as a standardized investor-readiness platform designed to address structural barriers in venture capital access. Founded by Jenny Flores, a banking and impact investing veteran with over 20 years of experience managing a $420 million impact investment fund at Wells Fargo, Capital Passport applies uniform evaluation criteria to pitch deck assessment, removing subjective gatekeeping that traditionally influences founder access to capital conversations.
The platform's development stemmed from quantitative research commissioned by Flores with UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. The 2025 study surveyed 1,002 small-business owners—including 501 women—and conducted eight focus groups with women entrepreneurs nationwide. Key findings identified critical funding barriers: 63% of women surveyed who pursued venture capital reported encountering gender bias, while 74% struggled to identify available funding sources. Qualitative research captured founder frustration with inconsistent evaluation standards, with one founder noting the "moving of the goalposts" created persistent lack of confidence in investor feedback loops.
Capital Passport operationalizes investor discipline by running every pitch deck through 10 consistent investment criteria in identical order using standardized scoring thresholds, eliminating relationship-dependent access and subjective variation. This systematic approach directly addresses the structural inequities identified in the Berkeley research. An early beta user leveraged the platform to reevaluate her pitch deck and secured $100,000 in funding within weeks, providing initial validation of the tool's efficacy in accelerating capital formation for underrepresented founders.
The platform development roadmap includes sector-specific analytical frameworks for health tech, biotech, and deep tech, indicating expansion beyond generalist evaluation toward specialized domain expertise. This architecture positions Capital Passport as infrastructure for systematic capital allocation at scale, with implications for institutional LP portfolios increasingly focused on manager diversity metrics and founder access outcomes.
The platform's development stemmed from quantitative research commissioned by Flores with UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. The 2025 study surveyed 1,002 small-business owners—including 501 women—and conducted eight focus groups with women entrepreneurs nationwide. Key findings identified critical funding barriers: 63% of women surveyed who pursued venture capital reported encountering gender bias, while 74% struggled to identify available funding sources. Qualitative research captured founder frustration with inconsistent evaluation standards, with one founder noting the "moving of the goalposts" created persistent lack of confidence in investor feedback loops.
Capital Passport operationalizes investor discipline by running every pitch deck through 10 consistent investment criteria in identical order using standardized scoring thresholds, eliminating relationship-dependent access and subjective variation. This systematic approach directly addresses the structural inequities identified in the Berkeley research. An early beta user leveraged the platform to reevaluate her pitch deck and secured $100,000 in funding within weeks, providing initial validation of the tool's efficacy in accelerating capital formation for underrepresented founders.
The platform development roadmap includes sector-specific analytical frameworks for health tech, biotech, and deep tech, indicating expansion beyond generalist evaluation toward specialized domain expertise. This architecture positions Capital Passport as infrastructure for systematic capital allocation at scale, with implications for institutional LP portfolios increasingly focused on manager diversity metrics and founder access outcomes.
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