Zeal Capital Partners’ Post

Opportunity

From the beginning, we knew that BBFI—our inaugural $50M pre-seed investment vehicle backed by Barclays—could impact exceptional Black-led teams at the first institutional round. With that, over the last several months, we've earned the privilege to partner with incredible minds at the forefront of their respective industries: Colin Horsford, CPA, Busayo Ogunsanya, CPA MST, Rilwan Lawal 👋🏾, Fifi Kara, Lailah Kara-Newton, MD, Andrew Q. Tran, Maya Watson, Lexi, 🔒 Christopher Grayson Beyond direct investments into high-growth companies, however, we also knew that our efforts should go beyond market demand to address the supply side of capital by empowering Black venture professionals with check-writing authority. #InclusiveInvesting starts with inclusive markets that open up real investing experience for venture professionals to operate, not only as researchers and advocators, but also as decision makers and capital allocators with the authority to make real things happen for early teams. On this final day of #BlackHistoryMonth, I am ecstatic about our firm's announcement of the first 16 industry operators we've galvanized to find, select, and invest in the best Black-led teams across the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as members of our inaugural cohort of venture scouts. Esosa Johnson, Shani C. Taylor, Oji Udezue, Randall Clark, Jeanine Suah, Kimberly N. Marshall, Nathalie Walton, Domonique Fines, DeVaris Brown, Damola Ogundipe, Phil G. Joseph, Michael Berhane, Jourdan Sutton, Jodine Gordon, George Okpamen, PharmD, MBA, Jerrod Hill These are the first of many who will join #BBFI to change the face of venture capital and I'm thrilled to work with this crew over the next 12 months and beyond! Zeal Capital Partners #venturescouts #inclusiveinvesting #preseed

Are you a minority entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level? Check out the details in the Chambers link below for the next Minority Business Accelerator cohort. The accelerator is designed for Black and Hispanic owned businesses in the Tampa Bay region. The curriculum spans nearly two years and covers key subjects: from accounting, human resources, legal, business growth and more. The deadline to apply for the next cohort is September 18 at 5pm. To learn more and access the online application please click the link in the Chambers post below. #tampabaychamber #minoritybusinessaccelerator #jpmorganprivatebank #jpmc #marketleadershipteam #mlt #bethechange

Re: Black Accredited Investors, Creating Jobs For Black Men and Women! Hi Rubin Pusha III BREF Fund I, LLC is a social impact private equity real estate fund based in New York. BREF Fund I, LLC raises capital ONLY from Black accredited investors and ONLY invests that capital with Black real estate entrepreneurs ("Fix and Flip investors") in Black communities across America. https://lnkd.in/eev9VgKR Black doctors and Black lawyers represent more than 35% of the investment capital raised by the Fund from Black professionals. Our mission is to “Build Wealth and Create Jobs for Black People”! One of our goals is to help [ lower the incarceration rate ] in the Black community (because if more Black men and women have jobs/economic opportunity, we believe less crime will occur in Black communities). In America, economic opportunity has worked [ very well ] in keeping crime very low in [ every other racial and religious community ]. I would be honored to one day being on your list: Black Private Equity Weekly Recap. All the best, Thomas Lopez-Pierre [email protected] 646-527-1116

Founders! check this report out from University of Toronto Entrepreneurship community! #earlystagestartups #startups #entrepreneurers #founders #venturecapital #VCs #investment #ecosystem

Crunchbase reported that only 0.48% of VC funding in 2023 went to Black founders. This disparity is unacceptable. The DFW Black MBAs remain committed to creating wealth-building opportunities for the Black community through equitable access to capital.✊🏾 We are thrilled to announce our return as community partners for this year's Impact Ventures Inclusive Capital Summit . Together, we can find and share resources that allow everyone to live the American dream. 📅 Key Details: Friday, July 26: Economic Justice Jam Summit Kick-off at Life in Deep Ellum, 6 PM - 8 PM (VIP Networking 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM) Saturday, July 27: All-day summit at the Center for Brain Health, 8 AM - 4 PM (light breakfast and lunch included) 🎟️ General Admission: $100 | VIP Experience: $200 DFW Black MBA Members: Check your emails for an exclusive registration offer. 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/g9qSPQyG #DFWBlackMBAs #ImpactVentures #InclusiveCapital #BlackFounders #EconomicJustice

Set-back or step Forward? On Saturday, I was fortunate enough to be selected out of 50 shortlisted companies for a chance to win £10,000 for my company. Firstly, I want to Thank Black Seed, NatWest and anyone else involved in putting on this event. Secondly, I'd like congratulate bubble on their deserved win. The raw emotion they showed emphasised why they were the correct choice. Lastly, shout out to the other finalists, you were amazing too! I won't lie, I'm super competitive and wanted to win. The £10,000 would have helped to roll out the next part of my plan. But it wasn't to be. Over the past couple of weeks I've been getting feedback on my pitch deck and I know where I need it to improve to be investor ready. So Saturday was definitely a step forward, I got to practice my pitch in a room full of people (public speaking makes my skin crawl), I connected with at least 30 amazing people and got some really good advice. Even for the super competitive like myself, it's not always about winning. It sounds so cheesy but learning is just as good. I could have chosen not to pitch, I could have chosen not to attend. The aim is and always will be to push forward. Next stop is to refine the pitch, complete my SEIS and get in touch with some angel investors. I'm also not a boot guy, but I think I'm pulling them off (I take all the small wins hahaha).

“In Q1’23 and Q2’23, Black founders raised 0.74%. In Q3’23, the group raised 0.13%, and in Q4’23 they raised 0.20%. Black #founders in the U.S. raised 0.48% of all venture dollars allocated last year. That’s around $661 million out of $136 billion, according to the latest Crunchbase #data. That number is the lowest it’s been in recent history. The past two years saw Black founders raising at least 1%. Last year, though, suspicions were confirmed when the market cooling really did appear to have an extreme #impact on the Black #community.” All excerpts and data by Dominic-Madori Davis in TechCrunch in the article linked in Daniel Smith, MBA’s post below. #inspiredbyyou every day! “Venture firms in the United States invest over $130 billion annually, however, Black investors have systematically been excluded from mobilizing this capital. Today, only 3% of venture capital investors are Black; additionally, only 2% of partners–individuals that make investment decisions–at venture firms are Black.” Excerpt from BLCK VC website here: https://www.blckvc.org/ “Industry Actions for Racial Equity – Investment Management…In this Transformation Guide, we review the state of racial #equity for the Investment Management industry and curate a set of insights, examples, mini-case studies, and resulting impact from Expanding Equity #network members that we hope will help and inspire other companies along their journey of racial equity. The aim of this Transformation Guide is to break down the walls, share examples and stories among peers and strengthen this industry’s #community of practitioners.” Excerpt from this W.K. Kellogg Foundation report in full here: https://lnkd.in/eF-sbSRm #investing #venturecaptial #assetmanagement #privateequity #business #entrepreneurship #inclusion #economy #talent #jobs #markets #money #cultureofmoney #fearlessfreedom

This. We need to do better. Faster. Now. But how? (Open thread) I can’t stand by - it’s time for allyship in action. Who is leading the way on this and how can the #ForbesImpactLab help? #venturefunding #venturecapital Nzinga “Zing” Shaw #ForbesBLK #blackentrepreneurship #equitablefuture #equitablefunding

Black founders in the U.S. raised 0.48% of all venture dollars allocated last year. That’s around $661 million out of $136 billion, according to the latest Crunchbase data. By fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and mentorship, we aim to increase representation and drive meaningful change within the tech industry, ensuring that Black founders have the support they need to thrive and contribute to a more diverse and vibrant ecosystem.