Who are the misfits?
The overlooked & marginalized
The majority of venture capital flows to entrepreneurs with the right pedigree or experience - those who know how the game is played. Young entrepreneurs in their 20s & serial entrepreneurs in their 30s, Stanford or MIT grad who are white and male - plugged into the Valley scene with connections and know how to work the system.
We commonly overlook the “misfit” - people of color, women, immigrants, older entrepreneurs, first-time entrepreneurs, formerly incarcerated, local community entrepreneurs that lack scale, etc - founders who are not part of the mainstream culture in Silicon Valley. Those born out of pain and discomfort; those who know how to help solve real life pain points and birth solutions that matter into the world.
Why Now?
Standing in the massively widening gap
In 2019, VCs invested $136B in startups. Less than 1% went to non-White or Asian founders1 even though the Black and Hispanic US population is 13 and 18%2, respectively. A study performed by Silicon Valley Bank arrived at a similar conclusion3.
Over the last decade, only 2% of VC capital went to US-based female-only founder teams4. In 2018, Juul raised $10B more capital than all female founders combined.
First time, new immigrant, or older entrepreneurs, and formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs don’t even get a chance to see those flows. We believe now is the time to stand in the gap.
This is not just a window of opportunity to generate outsized returns in a niche segment, but an opportunity to unleash growth capital to the creative and innovative spirits in the marginalized segments of entrepreneurship to solve for the biggest problems of society.
1 - National Venture Capital Association
2 - US Census, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI725219
3 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/22/black-entrepreneurs-venture-capital/
4 - Pitchbook; https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/the-vc-female-founders-dashboard