GV, the company formerly known as Google Ventures, just got its first Black female partner.
Fortune reports GV — an Alphabet-backed venture capital firm that has made investments in GitLab, Slack, and Uber — has just promoted Principal Terri Burns to investing partner. This title will grant her the ability to write checks and at age 26, Burns will make history as the firm’s youngest-ever partner.
Burns, as a Black woman, is a unicorn in an industry long dominated by white men.
In the VC world, slowly but surely some progress has been made. According to All Raise, the number of female decision-makers grew from 9 percent at the end of 2017 to 13 percent this past February.
Only one Black woman has been named partner at any VC firm in 2019, per Fortune, and Black people made up just 0.67 percent of all entrants to the industry between 2010 and 2015.
Prior to spending three years at GV as a principal, Burns was an associate product manager at Twitter and had already made out checks through GV. Those checks include one for HAGS, an app created by Gen-Z founders that are looking to transform into a broader social site for high schoolers and one soon to be announced.
“Her investments display her interest in companies that are built by and for Gen Z, particularly as this generation comes of age in a remarkably uncertain time,” said Dave Munichiello, general partner at GV, in a blog post.
Although her recent checks have a focus on the consumer business, Burns says she will also invest in areas that include the future of FinTech and work.
Disclaimer: GV is an investor in Blavity Inc., owner of AfroTech.
