The venture capital ecosystem has become the primary engine of American innovation. But the fuel isn’t flowing equally.
Overlooked founders — those building in communities historically excluded from capital, networks, and opportunity — are not missing ambition or ideas. They are missing access. And that gap is not accidental. It is structural.
Closing it requires more than goodwill. It requires new models — of funding, of ecosystem building, of what innovation looks like and who gets to lead it.
That is the work.
Black founders
Down more than half since 2022
Women-led startups
Nearly halved since 2022
Total global VC
Global VC, 2022 vs. 2024
Since 2022, funding to Black founders has fallen by more than half. Funding to women-led startups has nearly halved. As the pool of capital grows, overlooked founders are receiving a shrinking share of it.
Out of the $314 billion raised in global VC in 2024, overlooked founders received less than ever before. Black founders received approximately $730 million — less than half of one percent.
WHAT SHOULD BE VS. WHAT IS
SOURCE: Pew Research Center
SOURCE: Crunchbase 2024
Venture capital has increasingly become the lifeblood of American entrepreneurship. And yet, of the record billions invested in U.S. startups, single-digit percentages went to Black, Latinx, or female entrepreneurs. More than half of the venture dollars invested in the U.S. went to California alone.
If you’re building something that matters where you are — and you’re ready to do it with people who believe the same — we want to hear from you.
This is not about fitting into someone else’s vision of innovation. It’s about creating your own.
Come build with us.
