(Medium) The world is changing. Venture capital is struggling to keep up.
The best venture capital investors anticipate emerging trends, seize opportunities in untapped markets, and invest in the people who are inventing the future. But there’s a gaping hole in the current venture ecosystem’s investment strategy: a persistent lack of diversity.
According to The US Census, the country will be majority/minority by 2045. As demographics change, so does economic influence. Yet fewer than 3% of venture capital partners are Black and in the record-breaking first half of 2021, Black founders received a mere 1.2% of the $147 billion invested in startups.
Today, BLCK VC in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, is sharing our inaugural State of Black Venture report. We hope our report will serve as a baseline to track our progress over time. We researched and surveyed the Black partners and fund managers — the “check writers” — to learn more about who has the power to hire, promote and put money to work.
We invite you to read the full report here.