Introducing the Coalition Venture Studio

An ongoing initiative designed to support Black founders by providing access to our expertise, resources, and network.

Research consistently shows us that diverse founder teams outperform by 30%. However, in 2019, only 1% of venture capital money went to Black founders, with a fraction of that capital deployed to Black female entrepreneurs.

I witnessed 2019’s disappointing figures first-hand, knowing it would not be enough to rally the venture capital ecosystem into action.

It wasn’t until 2020, when we witnessed an avid dialogue on the ramifications of systemic racism, that we finally saw many leading and emerging investors pledge to create a more equitable ecosystem. As a Black founder, I applaud those efforts but I know that the path towards equity is far from complete.

It was obvious to me that to make change happen, myself and others needed to have a hand in creating it. Only through a coalition, an alliance of combined action of organizations and individuals would progress be achieved.

Introducing the Coalition Venture Studio

As the co-founder and President of ShotTracker and a R/GA Ventures portfolio company, I’m excited to be partnering with R/GA Ventures on Coalition Venture Studio, an ongoing initiative designed to support Black founders through providing access to R/GA’s expertise, resources, and network.

I’ve been a long-time collaborator of R/GA Ventures after participating in the LA Dodgers Accelerator launched back in 2016. R/GA Ventures, for years now, has been redefining innovation and startup investing through a hybrid model and approach. They have built a structure and process to identify and work with the best startups across any vertical, globally.

The team at R/GA Ventures has always been very aware that having the right relationships is as important as financial capital in helping companies like mine succeed.

I have firsthand experience of the power of the “R/GA effect” and it’s not just the R/GA Ventures infrastructure, but the people that make up the work and the expertise that was really critical in my success as a founder.

That’s why our approach to creating a more equitable ecosystem is providing relationship capital through exposure to R/GA’s network of industry-leading partners. By connecting vetted companies founded by underrepresented founders with R/GA clients, we can drive a new kind of innovative business growth.

We’ll provide access — to R/GA’s Creative Capital, and to the R/GA network of blue-chip corporate clients — to begin to level the playing field, support long-term success for underestimated entrepreneurs, and over time address the funding distribution gap.

Paired with relationship capital, Creative Capital is a way for R/GA Ventures to match startups with the right experts across R/GA’s global network, providing consulting, strategy, design, copywriting, business development, brand transformation, and more.

The initiative will also be advised by an internal and external advisory board, built from R/GA’s Black Leadership Council and selected investors from across the VC ecosystem to guide us in startup selection and mentorship.

Why Coalition?

There’s a need for all of us to work together to address existing inequities. No single investor, program, organization, or founder can be successful working in isolation which is why we built an ecosystem for collaboration.

Stemming from the R/GA Ventures model around collaboration, we’ll extend and continue to expand our partner set to like-minded investors, brands, community advocates, venture programs, educational institutions, and more, all in support of creating a more equitable ecosystem for Black founders.

Our Partners

We’re pleased to welcome the first set of Studio partners who have aligned with our mission and will act as mentors, resources, and investors to the Black founders we’ll serve.

We will continue to engage a diverse set of investors to add to our partner ecosystem including the L.A. Dodgers’ Elysian Park Ventures and a16z’s Talent x Opportunity Initiative.

R/GA Ventures will create and maintain a robust directory of startup solutions with the goal of connecting companies founded by Black founders to ecosystem members and an array of R/GA services.

Join the Coalition.

Today, we invite clients, partners, and collaborators who are aligned with our mission to create a more human future, and for us, that means investing in underrepresented founders.

We welcome like-minded partners across venture capital, enterprise, or startup founder communities to collaborate with us on this initiative.

If you’re interested in submitting your startup’s information to the Coalition, please fill out this brief form here.

If you’re interested in becoming a Studio Partner, please contact us here.

Let’s create a more human future, together.