Raising Startup Capital in 2022:
A Discussion for Underrepresented Founders.
How do underrepresented founders break through and succeed in 2022?
We all know that historically very little venture capital has gone to founders who are women and/or people of color. We’ve seen the numbers and read the stories.
But what’s it really like in 2022, and how do underrepresented startup founders today break through, raise money, and thrive?
Join us for a special livestream discussion on the topic, designed for startup founders who are concerned that their identity will be a headwind in accessing capital.
We’ll have a panel consisting of founders who have successfully raised capital, and of investors who are actively looking for the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs.
We’ll also talk about how to think outside the old monolithic world of venture capital and look at some of the new alternative startup capital sources and structures available today.
(if you are unable to attend the discussion live, we will send you a recording).
Panelists:
Bukie Adebo
Venture Capital Partner
Bukie is a partner at Women’s VC Fund, and has extensive experience identifying and supporting diverse founder who are building scalable businesses. As a former founder, Bukie understands the potential barriers first-hand and seeks to advocate for those that need it most. Previously, Bukie was a Strategy and Operations Consultant at Deloitte Consulting and a Brand Strategy Director at Ogilvy Consulting. During her MBA program at Harvard Business School, Bukie served as the Co-President for the African American Student Union and a student representative on the Dean’s Anti-Racism Task Force.
John Duong
CEO, Kind Capital
John launched Kind Capital to drive scalable sustainable impact profitably. He was formerly the Managing Director and Founder of Lumina Impact Ventures, a $50M impact fund focused on education technology. Previously he was Program & Portfolio Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, managing a $110M+ portfolio. John started his career as an investment banker, earned his BA degree in economics and East Asian studies from Yale University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. He is a Kauffman Fellow. Born in Cambodia, John immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. He and his parents are survivors of the Khmer Rouge concentration camp and were sponsored to the United States by the Catholic Sisters of St. Francis in La Crosse, WI where he grew up.
Ashley Williams
CEO & Founder, Clymb
Ashley spent 10 years as an educator in Baltimore, and saw countless students who lacked essential life skills to handle conflict, stress, and relationships appropriately. Finally, she decided to solve the problem by becoming a tech entrepreneur. She founded Clymb, which produces innovative software that uses data-driven, proven methods to build self-esteem, confidence, decision-making, and coping skills. After recently raising a new round of capital she is now scaling the solution, bringing it to schools and youth organizations across the country. She is a dedicated mindfulness practitioner.
Maria Jose Palacio
CEO and Founder, Progeny Coffee
Maria was born and raised in a famous coffee region in Colombia. When her design career took her to NYC she was shocked to see a cup of coffee selling for $5, and she realized how little of that got to her neighbors in Colombia, struggling to maintain a viable living through their coffee farms. So she moved to Silicon Valley, raised capital, and built a flourishing distribution platform with the mission of empowering coffee farmers and lifting them out of poverty. Maria has been recognized on Forbes Next 1000 list, 100 Female Founder of 2020 by Inc Magazine, Mujeres Imparables by Telemundo, 12 under 35 Breakout Talent to Watch by SFA, and the latest book “The New Latina – 100 Millennials shaping the World”.
Tanya Menendez
Snowball Wealth
Tanya is the Co-Founder and CEO of Snowball Wealth, a platform that provides a free student loan plan and helps users save an average of $6K. Snowball Wealth’s mission is to empower people to make financial progress and the platform also provides free resources on debt, saving, and investing. Before raising capital for Snowball, Menendez co-founded Maker’s Row, an online marketplace used by over 200K businesses. Previous to becoming an entrepreneur, she worked at Goldman Sachs and Google. Menendez has been included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List and named one of People en Español’s Most Powerful Latinas, and PopMechanic’s 25 Makers Who Are Reinventing the American Dream.
Moderator
Bret Waters is passionate about the democratization of entrepreneurship and has been in Silicon Valley his entire life as an entrepreneur, executive, and investor. Today he teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford, runs the 4thly Startup Accelerator, and coaches startup CEO’s at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. He’s successfully raised capital multiple times in his career, and the entrepreneurs he has worked with have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital. He received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
