Good morning! Gunjan Kedia will be U.S. Bancorp's first female CEO, Caroline Kennedy calls RFK Jr. a "predator," and networking and educational platform Luminary acquires HeyMama.
- Member acquisition. When Cate Luzio founded networking and educational platform Luminary in 2018, she aimed to make an inclusive environment that would help advance women’s careers at every stage. That mission has paid off over the years, with Luminary growing its overall membership 25% year-over-year since 2019 and adding live events, a fellowship program, and a partner network.
Now, Luminary is adding even more members to its growing network with the acquisition of HeyMama, a digital membership-based community of entrepreneurial and working moms. Existing HeyMama members will automatically transition to a digital Luminary membership; HeyMama cofounder and chief community officer Amri Kibbler and CEO Erika Hanafin will remain on as advisors through the transition before stepping down from their respective roles.
Luzio, who worked in banking at JPMorgan before founding Luminary, tells Fortune the acquisition of HeyMama makes sense from a cultural and mission standpoint. It will help Luminary reach more people, enhance its existing businesses, and strengthen Luminary within the women’s professional development category—all crucial factors Luzio considers in any possible acquisition (the company previously acquired leadership platform Declare in 2020 and peer coaching and accountability platform The Cru in 2023).
Though Luminary boasts coworking spaces around the world as part of its partner network, its bread and butter is networking events that members can attend in-person and online, as well as the educational content and programming for working parents and caregivers that all members have access to. That was a major factor in HeyMama’s interest in the sale, Luzio says.
"This is about membership and community," Luzio says. "Their desire is to have more community, more programming, and more content." HeyMama is unlikely to be Luzio’s last acquisition as she looks to continue to build and scale Luminary. She always has a list of businesses she’d like to acquire under the right circumstances, something she advises of other small business owners.
That said, Luzio has a particular vision for Luminary’s future. Though other women’s coworking spaces like The Wing have failed to live up to the initial hype, Luzio sees a clear path forward for Luminary, one predicated on providing community, inclusivity, education, and mentorship to professional women. And one that is built on the company’s “own roadmap” and scaled strategically.
"One thing that I'm really clear on is, I'm not going to do an acquisition that's going to potentially threaten the business and or the livelihood of us continuing to build," Luzio says. "I don't want to just do it because it's an acquisition. It's got to make financial sense, and the right sense for our business and the community."
Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
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