Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Local venture capital firm Black Founders Matter is encouraging their entire industry to be more intentional about engaging BIPOC women through both investments and employment. And they’ve launched an effort called the 25 by 25 VC Diversity Pledge to formalize it.
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Startups often raise a lot of capital early. Large fundraising rounds shorten the time you have to thoughtfully build your business. In 2017, I talked about our approach, fundstrapping which still represents how we’re building the business today.
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One of the more recent VCs to call the Portland area home, Black Founders Matter, recently had the opportunity to take Crunchbase through some of the goals and motivations for starting the fund designed to support Black-led businesses.
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Sure. There are tons of articles, posts, templates, and guidance on how to build the perfect pitch deck for your startup. But until you put that deck in front of an investor, you’re never really sure if it’s actually got what it takes. So every little bit of feedback helps. Like this upcoming event from OEN on “Investor Decks: Content and Design Strategies.”
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If you’re a Black founder seeking venture capital, you may want to look toward a Portland-based fund inspired by the struggles of another Black founder. Marceau Michel knows firsthand the frustrations of raising capital. But that negative experience also served as the motivation to provide a solution for other Black founders: the Black Founders Matter Fund.
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It’s always nice to see more capital focused on helping entrepreneurs around here. So it was a bright spot in all of this weirdness to see that there was a new venture fund in town. And it was an even brighter spot to see that the Oregon Growth Board had committed $350,000 to the new fund. Meet Include Venture Group.
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While I’m extremely lucky to get the opportunity to see all kinds of amazing founders and companies here in Portland, it’s always nice when they’re recognized on a larger stage. Like today, when Marceau Michel and his venture capital fund, Black Founders Matter, were featured in The New York Times.
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Speaking of new venture capital funds in Portland… Granted everything is pretty grim right now. And energy is hard to come by. Let alone optimism. So when there is a glimmer of something hopeful in the Portland startup community, that seems like something to celebrate. Like Portland’s Black Founders Matter fund making its first investment. In a Black founded Portland startup. And then that news making it into TechCrunch.
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The dynamics of venture funds are very much akin to the dynamics of startups. It’s rarely smooth. It’s often a series of fits and starts. And fundraising. And pivoting. Until a fund really hits its stride. But I’m happy to report that Black Founders Matter is beginning to get some early traction and has announced its first investment as part of the funding for A Kids Book About.
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