Catherine Merritt

Catherine is a serial entrepreneur, an investor, an activist and a champion of women and underrepresented leaders within the venture capital and startup space. As a woman who grew her career in the big marketing agency world, Catherine left that behind to build someone on her own. Working with female-founded startups, Catherine launched a consultancy that created access to investment and brands for emerging startups. Her consultancy quickly grew and Catherine evolved it into what is now Spool, the fastest growing agency, globally. Spool works with CPG brands, organizations, startups and companies to support their growth and promote the value they serve communities across the world. In less than four years, Spool has seen exponential growth and begun parlaying revenue into VCs and companies as part of Spool’s growing venture arm. Currently Catherine is leading an SPV for Supply Change Capital, with the intention of bringing 25 new female and/or underrepresented investors into the VC space. Spool was named one of PRNews Top 100 Agency Elite in 2021 and 2022, and Spool was awarded as a finalist for New PR Agencies of the Year from PRovoke Media. Additionally, Spool was shortlisted for two 2022 Sabre Awards categories - Best Agency Disruptors and Innovator of the Year. Catherine herself won the Silver Award for Outstanding Female Entrepreneur from the Stevie’s Women in Business Awards in 2020 and was an honoree for Top Women in PR by PRNews in 2020. Catherine and her husband Ian live in Evanston, just outside Chicago, with their two boys, Teddy and Archie.