List of investors, accelerators, and resources supporting underrepresented founders and investors
How many VC firms have funds specifically dedicated to underrepresented founders? This was the question that sparked the beginning of my research.
Why I created this list
As I was looking for my next adventure, I began looking into venture capital. Working for a VC would give me the opportunity to learn more about the investment side and use my operating experience as a designer to advise startups and help them scale. During my research, I realized that a central place where I could find VCs that fund underrepresented founders and are making a social impact did not exist. So, I decided to create my own list and share it with entrepreneurs, aspiring investors, and anyone else who could derive some benefit from this list.
In my exploration of various VCs, I was curious to see what the stats were around women and minorities being funded by VCs. I expected the numbers to be low, but I was shocked at how low they actually are. According to Pitchbook, “companies founded solely by women garnered 2.3 percent of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in the US last year.” Also, in this recent article by Crunchbase, “Untapped Opportunity: Minority Founders Still Being Overlooked” RateMyInvestor and Diversity VC conducted a joint study and examined publicly available VC-backed deals over the last five years and polled over 10,000 founders. Some of their key findings revealed the following:
- “77.1 percent of founders were white — regardless of gender and education.
- Just 1 percent of venture-backed founders were black.
- Women-funded startups received only 9 percent of investments.
- Latino founders made up 1.8 percent of those receiving funding, while Middle Easterners totaled 2.8 percent.
- Asians were the second most-backed group, making up 17.7 percent of venture-backed founders.”
These stats made me realize how far we still have to go to change the entrepreneurial and funding landscape. But, we’re making some waves with the emergence of funds and resources such as Gaingels, All Raise, and SoGal to name a few.
Who is this list for?
Entrepreneurs and aspiring investors who identify as being underrepresented:
- Immigrants
- LGBTQ
- Military veterans
- Non-Binary individuals
- PoC/minorities
- People with disabilities
- Women
Categories this list covers so far
- Angel Investors
- Equity Crowdfunding
- Incubators
- Mentorship
- Startup Accelerators
- Training programs/Bootcamps for entrepreneurs
- Venture Capital Firms
- Venture Fellow Programs
The List
This list is based on articles, reports, forums, and company/organization websites I found that state or have demonstrated (e.g. 40% of their portfolio companies have a female founder) that they support underrepresented founders and/or investors in some shape or form.
List of Investors, Accelerators, and Resources Supporting Underrepresented Founders and Investors
My Asks
- This is an evolving list. If you’d like to contribute to this list, please fill out this form.
- If there are any investor firms and/or accelerators looking for someone like me to join your team, let’s talk! Connect with me on LinkedIn.
- Please share this list with others whom you think would benefit from it. Thank you!
Remaining questions / Food for thought
As with all research, I started with one question and am left with more.
- What are other ways we can improve the landscape outside of diversifying VC teams?
- Even if underrepresented founders are getting funded, is there a difference in the investment amount? Are the terms different and checks sufficient in helping companies meet their next milestone?
- The investor world is heavily based on relationships and referrals so how can we create new ways for entrepreneurs to get connected?
- How do we remove biases that occur at the sourcing and pitching stages?
