'This is Critical': Two LA Funds Focusing on Diversity Get an Infusion from PayPal

Ben Bergman

Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.

'This is Critical': Two LA Funds Focusing on Diversity Get an Infusion from PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced Thursday it will be transferring money to two L.A. firms as part of a $50 million commitment to eight early-stage, Black and Latinx-led venture capital funds.

Slauson & Co., the new fund from PledgeLA chairman Austin Clements focused on people of color, women and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs; and VamosVentures, the Latinx consumer-focused, early-stage fund founded by Marcos Gonzalez, are both receiving undisclosed investment amounts.


"For a small fund, this is critical," Gonzalez told dot.LA. "Welcoming PayPal into the VamosVentures family will provide insight and resources in a variety of ways. For example, deal referrals, input on diligence of companies we're looking at in the fintech space, and possible business development support for our portfolio. More broadly, we expect to benefit from more general insight on trends and connections to folks in the ecosystem that we might not otherwise be able to access."

Gonzalez said he thinks it is significant that Los Angeles is the only city where PayPal chose to invest in more than one fund.

"I think it shows that L.A. can be an epicenter for early-stage activity around diverse managers, founders and consumers," Gonzalez said. "More specifically, L.A. is a Latino city and we're working to increase the Latinx communities participation in the tech and VC ecosystem."

Just 2% of VC investment partners in L.A. identify as African American or Latino, according to PledgeLA. Nationally, a 2018 Deloitte study found 80% of investment partners at U.S. venture firms were white; 3% were Black and 3% were Latino. Just 4% of VC employees are black, according to a 2018 survey by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), an industry trade group.

Because of the insular nature of how startups get funded – with a big emphasis on existing networks and warm introductions - the lack of diversity has major trickle down effects on which founders get capital.

In an effort to help solve the whiteness problem, VC's like Clements have gone out on their own to start new funds, but raising a first time fund is never easy and has been a "herculean task" this year, according to the NVCA. That's why the PayPal investment comes as welcome news.

"Through our investments, we hope to be a catalyst for positive change for people who face historic disparities in access to capital and opportunity," Clements said in a prepared statement.

While PayPal will be what Clements calls the "inaugural investor" in Slauson & Co., VamosVentures is further along, having already raised $25 million with two months left of fundraising to go, according to Gonzalez.

PayPal said it would also invest in Chingona Ventures, Fearless Fund, Harlem Capital, Precursor Ventures, Zeal Capital Partners, and one additional fund as part of the company's commitment to invest $530 million to support Black-owned businesses, strengthen underrepresented minority communities and fight for racial equity and economic equality.

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L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.

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Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

LA Tech Week: How These Six Greentech Startups Are Tackling Major Climate Issues
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samsonamore@dot.la

LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs

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’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs
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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LeaseLock, a lease insurance and financial technology provider for the rental housing industry named Janine Steiner Jovanovic as chief executive officer. Prior to this role, Steiner Jovanovic served as the former EVP of Asset Optimization at RealPage.

Esports platform PlayVS hired EverFi co-founder and seasoned business leader Jon Chapman as the company’s chief executive officer.

Biotechnology company Visgenx appointed William Pedranti, J.D. as chief executive officer. Before joining, Mr. Pedranti was a partner with PENG Life Science Ventures.

Pressed Juicery, the leading cold-pressed juice and functional wellness brand welcomed Justin Nedelman as chief executive officer. His prior roles include chief real estate officer of FAT Brands Inc. and co-founder of Eureka! Restaurant Group.

Michael G. Vicari joined liquid biopsy company Nucleix as chief commercial officer. Vicari served as senior vice president of Sales at GRAIL, Inc.

Full-service performance marketing agency Allied Global Marketing promoted Erin Corbett to executive vice president of global partnership and marketing. Prior to joining Allied, Corbett's experience included senior marketing roles at Disney, Warner Bros. Studios, Harrah's Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studios.

Nuvve, a vehicle-to-grid technology company tapped student transportation and automotive sales and marketing executive David Bercik to lead the K-12 student transportation division.

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