Venture Capital’s Enlightenment: Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes

Bonsal Capital tilts to underrepresented founders in evolved era

In venture capital these days, it is in vogue to talk about backing diverse or underserved founders. It is wholly another matter, however, to authentically do something about it, to indelibly shift investment strategy in more culturally representative and ultimately successful ways. Today, less than 10% of venture funding goes to women entrepreneurs, less than 1% to Black entrepreneurs, 0.4% to Latina founders and 0.2% to female Black founders. What is abundantly clear is that nothing changes if nothing changes.

This post was first published here.

In 2019 and 2020 YTD, Bonsal Capital has made nine new investments — six company investments (direct) and three fund commitments (indirect) — with a SUPER MAJORITY of underserved founders or leaders at the helm. In other words, over 80% of these investments directly support women and founders of color, the so-deemed underrepresented in the funding arena. This ‘enlightenment’ essentially flips the Bonsal Capital investment ratio demonstrated over the last two decades. Nothing changes if nothing changes, right?

The faces in the header image impart stalwart leaders who are changing the future of learning and work, with an end user (or impact) focus from the earliest years through adulthood. From left to right, top to bottom, they are:

- Chris Freire, Cofounder & CEO, Student Opportunity Center

- Darin Singh, Founder & CEO, PrepFactory

- Beth Lawrence (CEO) & Deena Seifert (COO), CoFounders, InferCabulary

- Katie Egan (CEO) & Bethany Meyer (CTO), Cofounders, CourseArc

- Zach Posner & Sam Elhag, Cofounders & MPs, LegalTech Fund

- Sabari Raja (CEO) & Binu Thayamkery (CTO), Cofounders, Nepris

- Nasir Qadree, Founder & Managing Partner, Zeal Capital Partners

- Emily Bailard, CoFounder & CEO, Everyday Labs

- [Reggie Lewis], Founder & Managing Partner, RareBreed VC