Yonas Beshawred, the CEO of StackShare and countless other ventures, is a man not afraid to tell it as it is and this skill has worked in his favor. His venture, StackShare, a platform that allows software developers and tech companies to share their tools and how they use them, has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2014. What first started as a side project on a WordPress blog, StackShare has raised $7 million and reached 1M developers, engineers, CTOs, VPEs, architects, and founders. Although the journey
When it comes to Venture Capital, the UK is far from meeting the necessary targets for diversity, particularly when it comes to the Black community. But Black VCs up and down the country are not staying silent anymore, and many of them are becoming more and more vocal on the lack of diversity in the sector, with some taking matters into their own hands to make an active change. From blogs and podcasts that advise new founders, group mentoring sessions to even launching their own firms specifically for Black aspiring VCs
Latinx women are severely underrepresented in technology and Venture Capital—as are Latinx people in general. For example, while a dismal 0.2% of all venture capital goes to Black women in the US, a mere 0.4% goes to Latinx women. According to a new report published by Project Diane, of the Latinx women who are reported to have received that 0.4% [of the $400 billion in venture capital funding between 2009 and 2017], only 58 ever raised over $1 million, But there are five women who are making great strides in the venture capital
Hi there! You’ve likely landed on this page because you heard that, along with my co-founder Jesse Middleton, I launched a venture capital fund called The Community Fund. You’re likely wondering “what is this fund about and who is Lolita Taub?” Well, the short of it is that through the fund, we’ll invest in community-driven companies destined to become unicorns through an investment team, taking a page from XFactor’s playbook. As for me, I’m an unlikely VC fund manager. Yes, I have fourteen years of experience as an operator and investor in
We are living through the strangest of times. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, we are in an unknown period of uncertainty. My thoughts are with everyone who has been affected. To think that just two months ago it was business as usual. As a Principal and Founding Member at Impact X Capital LLP Partners, a Black-led VC which invests in companies led by underrepresented founders, I was having frequent meetings with entrepreneurs and attending events. Today I am sitting here reflecting on the past 15
A key component of our thesis at HBCUvc is how university-affiliated networks influence venture capital ecosystems. According to Richard Kerby’s “Where Did You Go to School?” — forty percent of venture capitalists attended Stanford or Harvard. Stanford and Harvard are also ranked as the top two universities for producing the most funded startup CEOs. I wanted to know which HBCUs are already producing talent in the venture capital ecosystem. I compiled a list of 59 HBCU grads who are working in venture capital or have worked in the industry in the past five years.
