By Brooke Sinclair
- Bain Capital, GGV Capital and Kleiner Perkins have only invested in 1 Black-led company
- It takes a founder of color 12–36 months longer to raise capital than their white counterparts
Venture capitalists advise portfolio companies not to spend too much time fundraising, but is that advice applicable to founders of color? Only 1% of venture-backed companies are led by Black founders. It takes a founder of color 12–36 months longer to raise capital than their white counterparts. As much as Black Founders appreciate the office hours, offers for mentorship, and your perspective based advice, what Black Founders need from investors are checks. Here are the top 10 Silicon Valley venture capital firms least likely to invest in founders of color (in alphabetical order).
Why This Matters: Black Founders List is a source of truth with regards to the state of funding for Black founders, it serves as a running historical record for these entrepreneurs, and the investors who invested in them.
1. Accel
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1,432
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 2
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 416
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
3. GGV Capital
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 608
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1,172
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 594
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1,341
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 2
7. SOSV
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1,751
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 4
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 508
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
9. Venrock
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 634
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
10. Wayra
- INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1,155
- BLACK INVESTMENTS (TOTAL): 1
Situational Awareness: Founding partner of female-focused Halogen Ventures, Jesse Draper, wrote the column “Investing in Women isn’t a Fucking Charity.” It describes the sad and painful realities of being a woman in a male-dominated field and how “boneheaded,” financially, it is to not invest in women and really sheds light on a completely broken venture capital system. “On a macro level, the lack of diversity in the industry is a problem because it means most of the money flows to types of founders VCs understand — businesses with white men of a certain socioeconomic background as their target customer.”
CBx Vibe: “Entrepreneur” Pharrell Feat. Jay-Z
