- Diversity-focused venture firm Harlem Capital announced it has set up a $40 million debut fund to invest in companies at the seed and Series A rounds.
Harlem Capital has set up its debut fund at $40.3 million. The fund was oversubscribed as the target was initially set at $25 million. Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle founded the venture firm a few years out of the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
Upon graduating from Harvard Business School, they hired Brandon Bryant and John Henry as venture partners along with several senior associates, fellows, and interns. And Harlem Capital has a goal of investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years.
“We fundamentally believe we are a venture fund with impact, not an impact fund,” said Pierre-Jacques in an interview with TechCrunch. “The way we generate impact is to give women and minority entrepreneurs ownership.”
The funding from Harlem Capital Partners Venture Fund I will be used for writing checks in the $250,000 to $1 million range of seed or Series A financings. So far, Harlem Capital has invested in 14 companies such as Aunt Flow, Jobble, and Wagmo. And Harlem Capital will be making investments in about 22 more companies through Fund I.
With this first fund close, Harlem Capital has become one of the largest venture capital funds with a diversity requirement. This is important since minority founders raise a small percentage of total venture capital. And data suggests that companies founded exclusively by women have raised only 2.2% in overall total venture capital funding in 2018.
One of the biggest reasons why minority-run businesses are not receiving as much funding is due to the lack of diversity among general partners at venture capital firms. And a lot of investors are missing out on big opportunities due to the bias.
Tingle and Pierre-Jacques met through the Management Leadership for Tomorrow Program, which is a nonprofit organization that empowers a new generation of diverse leaders. Some of the limited partners in Harlem Capital Partners Fund I include TPG Global, State of Michigan Retirement Systems, the Consumer Technology Association and Dorm Room Fund.
One of the ways that Harlem Capital is learning about minority entrepreneurs who are building businesses is through a partnership with Techstars. Pierre-Jacques told Crunchbase that Techstars is the most diverse top tier accelerator. And he pointed out that 50% of the classes at Techstars are minorities. Techstars is going to send 500 deals to Harlem Capital over the next 5 years.
