Blck VC Group L​aunches 'We Won't Wait' Campaign Pushing for Diversity in Investing Groups

Rachel Uranga

Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.

Blck VC Group L​aunches 'We Won't Wait' Campaign Pushing for Diversity in Investing Groups
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Venture capital has fueled billions of dollars in wealth but it has largely excluded black Americans. Only 1% of venture-funded startup founders are black and more than 80% of venture firms don't have a single black investor.

Blck VC, a group of young black investors and entrepreneurs are calling on the venture capitalist community to diversify their ranks and support the black community. Declaring Thursday, June 4th, a day of action, the group launched a campaign called "We Won't Wait."


"Venture prides itself on being progressive. We disrupt industries. We work fast and break things. We fund dreams and create jobs. Yet, venture is one of the most homogeneous and exclusive clubs there is," a post from the group said on medium.

Blck VC was started in the Bay Area in 2018 by Fredrik Groce, a principal at Storm Ventures and Sydney Sykes, who worked in venture and was struck by the lack of diversity in the field.

The group, with outposts in Los Angeles and other major cities, helps connect graduates to jobs in venture and investors to mentors through their growing network.

"Venture Capital is one of these unjust systems. It is a system of funding entrepreneurs that has routinely overlooked talented black founders and investors, squashing promising businesses and dreams as a result. It is time for venture to face the ugly reality that it is a system perpetuating the institutional racism that plagues our society," the post said.

The group is asking firms to donate to funds that fight systematic racism and help break the wealth gap, including its own group, NAACP, Minnesota Freedom Fund, Reclaim the Block, Know Your Rights Campaign, Black Visions Collective, Code2040, HBCUvc, /Dev/Color, Hidden Genius Project and DigitalUndivided.
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Indji Systems Introduces Groundbreaking Hail Detection Technology to Protect Solar Panels and Prevent Millions in Damages

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Indji Systems Introduces Groundbreaking Hail Detection Technology to Protect Solar Panels and Prevent Millions in Damages

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Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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