Just 1% of venture capital raised goes to Black entrepreneurs. Fifth Star wants to change that. It’s writing checks at the earliest stages of a startup’s life — the “friends and family” round — providing investments between $25,000 and $50,000 for each startup. It has so far raised just under $1 million, with plans ultimately to deploy $5 million to Chicago’s Black founders.
Launched in February 2021, Fifth Star Funds has created a unique venture capital fund specifically dedicated to backing Black founders in Chicago.
Fifth Star Funds aims to foster a more equitable society by supporting a start-up ecosystem that is representative of today’s world.
It says it does this by reducing bias in the deal sourcing process, equalizing access to opportunity, allocating early-stage capital, providing network access, and delivering thoughtful support services that meet its founders’ needs.
Who founded the company?
Its CEO is Stella Ashaolu is also the founder of WeSolv, a platform connecting companies to more diverse candidates and leveraging performance data from real projects to reduce hiring bias.
As an MBA candidate at USC Marshall School of Business, Stella experienced the harsh realities of recruiting for strategy and consulting roles with a non-traditional background and limited network.
It was there she realized the power of experiential learning and underrepresented candidates’ need for access to real projects to showcase skills and reduce bias.
Now, coupled with years of management consulting, big data, and predictive analytics expertise, Stella brings her lived experience to build a research and data-based technology solution to improve diversity hiring for enterprise customers such as Salesforce, Pinterest, Discover, and a network of over 30,000 diverse business candidates.
In addition to serving as a Techstars alumni mentor and 1871 mentor, Stella is a vocal leader and diversity advocate in the Chicago tech ecosystem. She also holds a BA from UCLA.
It has so far invested in
City Health Tech:
City Health Tech’s vision is a world without disease outbreaks. They believe that user-centered design, first-class technology, and community engagement is the means to prevent the spread of diseases in cities and other vulnerable communities. Through its innovative hand washing product Opal, City Health Tech is committed to promoting disease prevention in cities worldwide. City Health Tech was co-founded by Irewole Akande and Ibraheem Alinur.
CulturePilot:
CulturePilot is an AI-powered app that uses your phone’s built-in camera to recognize objects of interest and immediately provide curated audio and text content. CulturePilot empowers museums, artists, cities, and other organizations to create this content for visitors without worrying about building and maintaining the technology behind it. They give users the confidence to explore and travel like a local. CulturePilot was co-founded by Barbara Kuofie and Mariyam Khalid.
E3 Radio:
E3 Radio is a media platform and online radio station showcasing queer music & reporting on queer news with an intersectional lens. Their new mobile app The Qube is a curated app of music and podcasts by Black, Brown, & QTPOC (Queer & Trans People Of Color) creatives. With their pillars to educate, empower, and entertain, E3 Radio seeks to uplift the voices that currently don’t get airtime. E3 Radio was founded by Anna DeShawn.
Eventnoire:
Eventnoire is the premiere platform for event planners, organizations, and marketers that celebrate and embrace Black culture. Eventnoire offers software solutions for event registration, event management, mobile apps for events, and email marketing. Their unique platform serves as a resource for event hosts who influence Black culture to monetize their influence and receive commissions from ticket fees. Eventnoire was co-founded by Jeff Osuji and Femi Masha.
ExpandHR:
ExpandHR is building onboarding confidence from day one as a one-stop shop for small businesses to streamline employee onboarding, payroll, compliance, health tracking, and more. ExpandHR’s mission is to be the HR partner for business owners who desire to grow their teams and revenue, build efficient processes, and develop an engaged work environment safely and effectively. ExpandHR was co-founded by Delmar Johnson and Shayna Atkins.
