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Entrepreneurship is often romanticized, but it is no easy journey. Beyond simply creating an idea that seems unique enough to launch, it is not cheap to be your own boss. Starting a business has several fixed costs that can quickly add up, such as legally forming a company, paying for legal protections like patents or trademarks, and, of course, marketing and promoting your business. This is where bringing in outside investors can be a smart move. Investors not only represent a cash infusion , but if founders are wise, these people can also help market, promote, and grow a business. However, finding people who are not only willing to invest in a young company but also have enough resources to support a fledgling firm can be difficult. So, where is a startup to start with finding investors? Create A Business Plan Serious investors are not interested in blindly investing in a business — even if they are relatives and friends (who are usually the initial seed investors for any...
BLCK VC, a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the presence of Black investors in the venture capital (VC) industry, has recently released its annual edition of the State of Black Venture Report in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank. The report, released on Feb. 22, sheds light on the current state of the Black venture ecosystem, analyzing various trends in leadership and representation within the industry.
To improve relations between renters and home providers, WhoseYourLandlord (WYL) has secured new funding. According to a press release sent to AfroTech, the apartment building review platform has raised an oversubscribed $2.1 million seed funding round. The round was led by Black Operator Ventures (Black Ops) with participation from New York Ventures, Ben Franklin Tech Partners, and Google’s Black Founders Fund. In addition, some notable angel investors also participated in the round including Diishan Imira (Founder of Mayvenn), Abbey Wemimo & Samir Goel (Founders of Esusu), and Michael Tobin (Founder of Fresh Catch). “Social impact in real estate hasn’t been something you’ve seen prioritized for companies in the most recent years, but WhoseYourLandlord has found a scalable way to systematically measure, analyze, and operationalize it for landlords and property managers alike,” said James Norman of Black Ops, according to a press release. “Our team has followed Ofo’s company journey...
There are many myths about Silicon Valley, but AfroTech’s Black Tech Green Money is here to get to the bottom of it. As the founding managing partner of Plexo Capital, an institutional investment firm that was incubated and spun out of Google Ventures (GV), Lo Toney knows what it means to be on both ends of the table, whether it’s being a venture capitalist (VC) or operating a startup. “There are a lot of similarities,” he said during the episode of Black Tech Green Money (BTGM) podcast. “We think about it all the time, both in terms of how we operate and communicate the message of Plexo Capital, but also what we look for in other early-stage firms in general partnerships that we want to invest into.” When it comes to what they’re looking for in a startup, he further explained that the market size, along with the problem that is solved, the solution and how it will fit into the overall competitive landscape are some of the key elements that encourage a VC to invest. “Most...
After years of investing on his own, Nigerian angel investor Olumide Soyombo is launching his own venture to support African-based startup companies. According to TechCrunch, Soyombo — a known high profile angel investor in Nigerian tech and African startups — today has announced the launch of Voltron Capital — a Pan-African venture capital firm co-founded with Abe Choi — which will invest in pre-seed and early-stage companies in Africa. The outlet also reports that Soyombo’s goal for the new firm — which aims to start off with 30 startup investments — is to ultimately “address the severe lack of access to early-stage funding for African tech companies.” The investment sizes will range from $20,000 to $100,000 and focus on startups based in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and North Africa. Soyombo is recognized as a prominent and influential figure in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem, as he has access to almost any important deals happening in the market on account of his respected reputation....
Nonprofit firm BLCK VC teamed up with Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners to launch a network that supports the next generation of Black investors. There has been an emergence of scout programs in the venture capital sector, which have helped better connect founders, operators, and angel investors (If you’re unsure of what venture capital scouts are, think of them as the bridge between venture funds and promising companies looking for support). Through the BLCK VC Scout Network, Black investors will be able to tap into training, mentoring and networking opportunities. BLCK VC launched this initiative after recently discovering that only three percent of venture capital investors are Black. The firm is working to increase diversity in venture capital, so this new network is a step in the right direction. The BLCK VC Scout Network program will take place over six months, across three phases focused on education, community , and deal flow. Twice a year, BLCK VC will welcome...
The venture capital space is still struggling with its diversity problem, but this student-run equity fund is hoping to use its expansion plan to fix it. University Growth Fund (UGF) — considered the largest student-run equity fund in the country — has partnered up with Ally Ventures to announce that it is expanding its offices to Atlanta in an effort to usher more Black and Brown students into the underrepresented field of venture capital. According to a press release, the equity fund has established a company mission to provide “unique access to the highly-competitive and lucrative career track of venture capital through hands-on experience.” Now stationed in Downtown Atlanta — which is home to 26,000 Black and brown college students — UGF hopes to use its close proximity to the city’s top colleges and universities with diverse student bodies to turn things around for the VC world. “Only 2% of venture capital leaders are Black, making venture capital one of the least diverse...
Storm Ventures has named two new partners to its advisory board. Pascale Diaine and Frederik Groce, who have worked with the company for many years, are now partners in the firm, according to TechCrunch. Groce’s new appointment at Storm Ventures follows his previous successes in venture capital. He’s the founder of BLCK VC and has also created the Black Venture Institute, which specializes in creating a network of Black venture capitalists for potential startups. And, according to Groce, his appointment is just a sign of things to come in the diversification of the venture capital world. “If you think about the way our team works, that’s the way I think venture teams will need to work to be able to be successful in the next 40 years. And so the hope is that over time everyone does this and we’re just early to it,” Groce told TechCrunch. Previously, Storm Ventures invested in startups in the robotics as service, marketing, engineering, and vertical SAAS fields. Companies such as...
Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs Austin Clements and Ajay Relañ have announced the launch of Slauson & Co., an inclusion-focused VC fund that sets out to help the Black community . In a press release, the company announced its inaugural venture capital fund, which has received backing from the likes of PayPal, which recently made a big commitment toward racial equity. Ashton Kutcher, will.i.am, True Capital Management and Alpaca VC are also early supporters, along with veteran technology investor Ron Conway who will advise Slauson’s founding partners. The inclusion-focused VC fund isn’t an impact fund. However, they do promise to “be impactful” with their investment decisions. “We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our firm and aspire to be the best in class,” Slauson & Co. co-founder Austin Clements told AfroTech. “With that, we’re ready to put in the work, and if done right, will result in access for untapped founders and inclusion in a space that until recently seemed...
New Voices Foundation is launching the New Voices Banking Bootcamp, a business banking educational program in partnership with JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways initiative, announced PRNewswire . According to the press release, the bootcamp is designed “to help women of color entrepreneurs establish strong business banking relationships and expand their access to capital.” Considering that entrepreneurs of color still struggle to raise venture funds and resources for business growth, this opportunity will help fill the gap through financial education. View this post on Instagram We are proud to announce the launch of our New Voices Banking Bootcamp sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Advancing Black Pathways! Over the course of three sessions in December 2020, this virtual Banking Bootcamp will provide 15 women of color entrepreneurs access to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s bankers for programming on key topics, including establishing strong business banking relationships,...
As of Aug. 31, a total of $87.3 billion in venture capital has gone to founders so far in 2020. However, Black and Latinx founders have received just 2.6 percent of that funding. According to CNBC, a new report from Crunchbase confirms the Black founders are still struggling to raise money for their innovative ideas. Released on Oct. 7, the reports gathered data from over 970 Black and Latinx-founded companies that have raised VC funding since 2015. The report also highlights data from the nonprofit organization BLCK VC that shows 81 percent of all VC firms don’t have a single Black investor. “I think it’s pretty shocking,” Crunchbase data evangelist Gene Teare said. “Hopefully for the industry, this is a wake-up call.” Teare cites racial bias and discrimination within the venture capital space for the rejection founders experience early in the fundraising process. “That early funding is all about you as a founder, your network, and your credibility,” she said. However, with limited...
Nonprofit firm BLCK VC was designed to increase diversity in venture capital. Staying true to their goal, co-founders Sydney Sykes and Frederik Groce have launched the Black Venture Institute , an educational initiative dedicated to helping Black operators become angel investors. In a formal announcement , BLCK VC says that the institute is the brainchild of a partnership with Operator Collective , Salesforce Ventures , and Berkeley Haas School of Business. “These partners joined us on a journey that has been three years in the making, a journey built on the premise that if we want to make venture capital (and by extension the tech industry) a more diverse and equitable ecosystem, then we need to be the catalysts for this change,” said Groce. Today, we are excited to be announcing the Black Venture Institute! We are building structural solutions to structural problems. This is about education & access. Shout-out to our partners @SalesforceVC , @OperatorCollect and @BerkeleyHaas...
The diversity numbers in venture capital (VC) are even worse than the numbers in tech as a whole. According to Tech Crunch, 81 percent of VC firms don’t have any Black investors at all. A study released by Harvard in 2017, indicated that women have accounted for less than 10 percent of the entrepreneurial and venture capital labor pool from 1990-2016 with about two percent having been Hispanics, and less than one percent African Americans. A more recent Stanford study indicates that even successful Black VCs have a tougher time in the industry than their white counterparts. Here are five Black VC making a mark: 1. BLCK VC According to their website , “BLCK VC was formed to connect, engage, empower, and advance Black venture investors by providing a focused community built for and by Black venture investors.” Their goal is to increase the number of Black venture capitalists from 200 to 400 by 2024. BLCK helps VC firms incorporate effective diversity and inclusion practices in their...