Black-led venture capital firm Harlem Capital is raising a $150 million fund, according to documents filed with the SEC. Harlem Capital, founded in 2015 by Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, aims to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders. Harlem Capital’s Funds To Date The new fund, if raised, will be the firm’s third and most significant to date after raising $134 million in 2021 and $40 million in 2019. Its second fund focused on early-stage post-product companies from all sectors but a particular focus on consumer and enterprise tech.
OpenseedVC has reached the first close of its $10 million fund for operator-led startups in Africa and Europe. Founded by former Octopus Ventures and Oxford Seed Fund investor Maria Rotilu, OpenseedVC is a new solo General Partner (GP) that aims to be the first check for startups. OpenSeedVC: Filling a Crucial Funding Gap According to Sifted, Rotilu is Europe’s first Black solo GP and one of the first female solo GPs in the region. Rotilu’s strategy with OpenseedVC is to back startups even earlier than the pre-seed stage, at a
Angeles Ventures, a Latine and woman-led early-stage VC fund, has announced an equity investment from Bank of America. This investment aims to accelerate Angeles Ventures’ mission to find, fund, and grow Latine ventures across the United States. Addressing the Funding Gap for Latine Entrepreneurs Even though Latine Americans make up over 20% of the U.S. population and are the most entrepreneurial group in the country, they receive less than 2% of venture capital funding. Angeles Ventures aims to change this by focusing on tech-enabled B2B and B2C startups at the
Seven organizations focused on diversity in tech have announced the formation of the Diversity Data Alliance to address funding disparities faced by underrepresented groups. The alliance comprises All Raise, Diversity VC, BLCK VC, StartOut, 2Gether-International, Vets in Tech, and Somos VC. Standardizing Data for a Unified Approach The Diversity Data Alliance has agreed upon a set of standardized demographic data points to be collected across each member organization. This initiative, which began in the spring of 2023 and saw its implementation in 2024, focuses on capturing demographic information, such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational attainment,
A report from The Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity has found a troubling decline in venture capital and other forms of funding for Black-owned businesses. While the number of Black-owned businesses are growing, they  are severely underrepresented compared to their population making up only 2.5% of all businesses. In recent years, Black-owned businesses have faced challenges in securing funding, a trend that blocks their growth and reflects issues within the American financial landscape. The Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity’s latest report, a collaboration between the National Urban League and Third Way, illuminates
Social entrepreneurship non-profit Echoing Green is launching a $15.6 million fund to provide capital to help social innovators grow. The Signal Fund The Signal Fund will serve as a financial tool providing capital to social innovators at critical growth stages, especially founders with overlooked potential for scalable social impact. In 2019, research from Echoing Green and The Bridgespan Group showed that the revenues of Black-led organizations were 24% smaller than those of their white-led counterparts. The unrestricted net assets of the Black-led organizations were 76% smaller than their white-led counterparts. Co-designed with Angel City Advisors
Terri Burns, 26, the youngest partner in GV’s history and its first Black female partner, is launching her firm, Type Capital, according to Fortune. Breaking the Heat Cycle During her time at GV, formerly Google Ventures, Burns witnessed a recurrent issue within VC funding strategies: the reliance on “heat” from other investors before committing to a deal. “A lot of investors are driven by heat, versus being driven by true innovation,” she told Fortune. “[Founders are] talking to amazing investors, they’re getting some interest, but no one’s really willing to take the leap
Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners Eyes Billion-Dollar Merger With Investment Arm Of Pendulum Holdings
Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), co-founded by “Jay-Z” Carter, is reportedly nearing a significant merger with Pendulum Holdings’ investment arm Merger Talks According to Bloomberg, the merger could create a new entity with over $1 billion in assets under management. Sources close to the discussions, who preferred to remain anonymous, have indicated that the merger between these two California-based powerhouses is almost finalized. Both entities have declined to comment on these speculations. Culture-driven investments Marcy Venture Partners, established in 2018 by Jay-Z alongside Jay Brown and Larry Marcus, has demonstrated an eye for culture-driven investments. Its
Audible has recently welcomed four new minority-owned businesses into its Newark, NJ-based Business Attraction Program. The initiative, launched in August 2023, aims to bolster the local economy by supporting startups through financial backing and expert mentorship. Empowering Diverse Founders The focus on minority-owned companies, especially those led by Black women, comes at an important time. Nationally, Black-owned businesses receive one percent of venture funding. Audible’s program seeks to change this disparity by offering each company up to substantial non-dilutive grants of $250,000. These funds are allocated for office space, relocation, and local
British legal tech company Definely has raised a $7 million (£5.6 million) Series A investment round to advance its GenAI proposition that helps draft, edit, and understand legal documents. Last year, the Microsoft- and Google-backed company released Vault. This tool leverages AI and OCR technology to analyze and extract key information and clauses from an organization’s internal contract repository. Vault then makes this information readily available to users directly within their documents, exactly when and where it’s needed. One Of The 50 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies In The UK Founded by two former
