Update:
Hamilton has announced that she will be stepping down as CEO of Backstage Studio. Backstage General Partner Christie Pitts will step into the role. Hamilton will remain as Managing Partner for Backstage capital and will focus on fundraising.
Last May, Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton announced that her firm would be launching a $36 million fund geared toward supporting black women founders. A perfect way to fight back against the white, male dominated tech space.
The fund however, hasn’t closed, according to Axios.
Axios reports that two key investors for the fund have fallen through, and that the company also lost a $5 million operations deal with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance two weeks before it’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested. Hamilton confirmed to Axios that some layoffs have occurred at Backstage Capital as well.
Moving forward, Backstage will focus on its accelerator, which has expanded to 4 cities since the firm was founded in 2015. Hamilton told Axios that raising money for the fund has not stopped, but is suspended for the time being. She echoed those sentiments this morning in a back and forth with Dan Primack, the Axios reporter who broke the story.
That is correct. But that does not mean we have stopped raising. Here are the receipts. My receipts. I would never post anyone else's DM, or info about specific people not made public, but this is part of the conversation I sent to you, Dan. For all to see. pic.twitter.com/PdhsausvAf
— Arlan 👊🏾 Free Brittney Griner (@ArlanWasHere) March 19, 2019
Hamilton was quick to point out on Twitter this morning that Backstage has invested in over 100 companies and raised $50 million since it launched in 2015.
1/ Hey kids👋🏾 This story came out on the @axios newsletter and site today. Thanks so much to everyone who has reached out to show support. Im ok! I’ve been listening to Bob Marley all week😉 I don’t think I agree with the “falls through” description, as we are a work in progress. https://t.co/OHYGYRKaHn
— Arlan 👊🏾 Free Brittney Griner (@ArlanWasHere) March 19, 2019
The fund is the firm’s second. It’s first was for $5 million in 2016 and took about 16 months to complete. According to TechCrunch, this most recent fund was supposed to be completed in 8 months.
Backstage Capital is an anomaly in Silicon Valley. A firm, led by a Black woman, dedicated to investing in companies started by people of color. In 2018, $130 billion in venture capital was distributed to U.S. based companies. Hamilton created the fund as a way to make sure companies run by black and brown people see some of those dollars.
We don’t know what the future holds for Hamilton’s fund, or what it means for those who are involved. Hamilton told TechCrunch that they’ve had to essentially start from scratch.
Hamilton is adamant that the mission of the fund — to put money into businesses owned by black women — is still very much alive.
