Getting Funded: How VCs + Investors Support Diverse Startup Founders | Non-Obvious Diversity Summit
Why are VCs and investors betting on startups with diverse founders and how does this affect the startup landscape? This panel digs into how companies are focusing efforts to empower entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds, and how that creates a more equitable environment, and also helps build economically solvent companies.
This interview is part of the Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit, an ambitious gathering of more than 200 experts and visionary speakers working across industries to help build a more diverse and inclusive world.
Learn more and see the full list of sessions at www.nonobviousdiversity.com.
About the Speakers:
Frank Gruber, CEO, entrepreneur, new media journalist, speaker, startup advisor, and investor – Frank Gruber is a CEO, entrepreneur, new media journalist, speaker, startup advisor, and investor who co-founded Tech.co and authored Startup Mixology: Tech Cocktail’s Guide to Building, Growing and Celebrating Startup Success.
Travis Holoway, Co-Founder and CEO, SoLo Funds – Travis Holoway is the Co-Founder and CEO of SoLo Funds, a mobile lending exchange that connects lenders and borrowers to provide more affordable access to loans under $1,000 and to disintermediate the predatory payday lending system.
Courtney Caldwell, Co-Founder and COO, ShearShare – Courtney has spent nearly 2 decades building winning teams in tech marketing for global enterprises, SMBs and startups—including her own beauty-tech startup, ShearShare.
Allyson Kapin, Founding Partner, W Fund – Allyson Kapin is the Founding Partner at W Fund, a VC firm directly investing in outstanding tech startups led by innovative women and “traditionally” underrepresented founders who are driving the future of tech. She has been named one of the “Most Influential Women in Tech” by Fast Company. And, as the founder of Women Who Tech, she launched one of the largest global programs, called the Women Startup Challenge, to disrupt a culture and economy that has made it difficult for women entrepreneurs to raise capital.
Marion Nichols, Founding Managing Partner, MaC Venture Capital – Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly known as Cross Culture Ventures), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. He’s a former Kauffman Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital, with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment.
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