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Stefanie Thomas-Martin has been promoted after spearheading a $50 million investment vehicle. The Wall Street veteran, who holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, joined Zeal Capital Partners—a Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology businesses —as its managing director in 2023. Before that, she was a founding member and investor at Impact America Fund (IAF), where she helped grow the company’s assets under management from $7 million to $110 million, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Thomas-Martin was entrusted with leading the VC firm’s $50 million Barclays Black Formation Investment (BBFI) vehicle, which funds Black-led companies leveraging services and technology to bridge wealth and skills gaps. She not only successfully led the initiative but also launched its first scout program to train the next generation of venture capitalists. Her efforts have led to her promotion from managing director to partner,...
Here’s to Black women making history. ESSENCE reports that Pamela Culpepper just became luxury fashion brand Prada’s newest board member, and she makes history as the first Black woman to do so in its 109-year history. Along with Anna Maria Rugarli, Culpepper was appointed as the Independent Non-Executive Director of Prada S.p.A., the parent company of Prada. Both were chosen based on their backgrounds in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). They will support the Board of Directors with sustainability assessments and any decisions based on the three courses of action at the core of the company’s ESG strategy, which include people, environment, and culture.
If you’re looking for a full crash course on some of the ins and outs of venture capital funding, you may want to keep reading. As the founder and managing partner of Zeal Capital Partners, located in Washington, D.C., Nasir Qadree, knows the ins and outs when it comes to the world of venture capital. Now he’s on a mission to spread his knowledge with the world on the latest episode of AfroTech’s Black Tech Green Money podcast with Will Lucas.
Personal safety while traveling is still a growing concern, especially for women traveling alone. This is the thought that Jillian Tancil had in mind when she founded TanTek Technologies last year, a tech startup manufacturing necklaces equipped with tracking devices. The necklaces sync with a mobile application that shows approved contacts a person’s exact whereabouts. Consumers can also safely send emergency alerts through the necklace or app to approved contacts. “I never really intended to go into business. It’s not what I went to school for,” Tancil told AfroTech in a video interview. Tancil is an attorney by trade. During her third year of law school at Harvard University, she went on a solo spring break trip to Paris; this was the experience that birthed TanTek. Being the only girl out of her siblings, Tancil and her family often worry about safety, especially while traveling. Tancil’s wheels started turning when she did some research amid her trip and found that there aren’t...
Today marks another major milestone for venture capital firm Zeal Capital Partners with an oversubscribed fund that wants to advance economic mobility. In a press release shared with AfroTech, Zeal Capital Partners — a firm dedicated to narrowing the wealth and skills gaps through its investments — has announced the raise of a $62.1 million inaugural fund, outperforming its initial $50 million goal. This makes it one of the largest funds from a solo diverse manager and one of the largest first-time funds for any solo general partner. Funding for this raise was led by Truist and PayPal, with participation from other backers such as Synchrony Financial, Bank of America, Foot Locker Inc., RockCreek, Hampton University Endowment, Southern New Hampshire, Skoll Foundation and Gary Community Investment. Of those investors supporting Zeal’s new fund, Peter Sanborn — managing partner of PayPal Ventures — said that “Zeal Capital stood out to PayPal because of our shared belief that access to...
Founders-turned-investors make for a great pipeline of funding deals to help power early-stage startups, and today MAGIC Fund is proving just how much it’s paying off. MAGIC Fund — a global collective of founders — has announced the raise of a second fund of $30 million to continue its mission of backing early-stage startups around the world in places like Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Southeast Asia, TechCrunch reports. Since launching its first fund back in 2017, the firm has had the opportunity to invest in 70 companies at pre-seed and seed stages across the above emerging markets, and now their goal is expanding to reach more startups. In speaking with TechCrunch, managing partner Adegoke Olubusi and operating partner Matt Greenleaf shared how MAGIC Fund is opening up opportunities for founders who are now angel investors to invest in and support companies beyond their local markets. According to them, working together with a collective of founders helps them...
Don’t just talk about it, be about it! Managing Director of venture capital (VC) firm Insight Partners knows exactly how to use his privilege to level the playing field when it comes to funding for Black founders. Richard Wells is the son of an Ecuadorian immigrant mother but carries the name and appearance of his white father which he notes has helped his career tremendously. “When I sit on a panel of folks that do what we do, I have joked that I have the same haircut and look very similar to everyone else, all the white guys,” said Wells in an interview with Forbes. “And I recognize that’s an advantage for me. No one knows that I had a grandmother that didn’t speak a word of English.” As veterans in the industry, Wells and his partners have continuously been informed about the hardships that fund managers, specifically, women and people of color, face when it comes to raising money. It was this that motivated both him and his partners to put $15 million of their own capital into a...
Longtime local innovator Felecia Hatcher — a serial entrepreneur and champion for minority tech business-owners — is reportedly stepping down from her role at Miami’s Center for Black Innovation to lead Black Ambition — a nonprofit organization founded by Grammy-winning artist Pharrell Williams, Bizwomen shares. Black Ambition — a new venture recently launched this past December — was created in hopes of funding projects and companies led by Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. “Excited to finally be able to announce that I have accepted a role as CEO of Black Ambition a bold vision founded by Pharrell Williams to connect Black & Latinx and HBCU startup founders to unprecedented capital and access through prize competitions,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Excited to lead this! Excited to be in a position to directly fund founders. The best part….although a nationally-focused organization we will be based in Miami. Excited for the journey ahead.” Hatcher is well-known for being a...
When it comes to acquiring seed capital to start a business, many American entrepreneurs find themselves overlooked by venture capitalists and struggling for financial-backing support. With less access to financial services, companies led by diverse management teams are left under-invested and vulnerable to failure. To combat this, venture capital firms are aiming to take the lead in order to empower the next generation of diverse business leaders. As part of the inclusive venture capital movement, Zeal Capital Partners — a Washington, D.C. -based inclusive investment vehicle for early-stage businesses — has created a solution. To continue its mission of investing in rising ventures and level the playing field to help bridge the country’s wealth and skills gap, it has just launched the Inclusive Investing™ Fund . Zeal’s $50 million fund — which is anchored by PayPal, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a large university endowment, family offices, notable business leaders, and other...