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Deborah Benton

Smart Money RatingBased on the data VC Catalog holds.

Smart Money Rating: 93 out of 100

Founder & Managing Partner, Willow Growth Ventures

Firm
Willow Growth Ventures
Title
Founder & Managing Partner
Role
Managing partner
Known as
Investor
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Record updated 18 September 2026

About

Deborah Benton is Founder & Managing Partner of Willow Growth Partners, an emerging growth fund providing early capital to entrepreneurs building next-generation, values-led consumer brands. Willow typically leads the first institutional round for brands generating $1–5M in revenue, applying a disciplined approach to valuation, capitalization, and scaling for long-term success. With a founder-first ethos, Willow partners with entrepreneurs at their most critical stage of growth. Prior to founding Willow, Deborah launched and ran a family office investment vehicle in 2014, focused on seed-stage consumer brands and enabling technologies. In this capacity, she served as a Board Director and Advisor across multiple portfolio companies, gaining the insights, learnings, and conviction that ultimately shaped Willow’s investment thesis. Earlier in her career, Deborah held various executive operating roles, including President & COO of Nasty Gal, COO of ShoeDazzle, and EVP of Inside Sales & Ope

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Background

Education
Deborah holds both an MBA and a BA (Health) from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.Source (opens in a new tab)

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