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The Changing Face of Venture Investors

by | Jan 27, 2016 | Diversity, Impact investing, Leadership diversity, Women Investing in Women, Women Investors | 0 comments

Women, people of colour, and the LGBT community have typically been under-represented in the start-up and venture community. My hypothesis is that if the investor community were more diverse, then the types of entrepreneurs that get funded, the types of companies that thrive, and the types of problems that are solved become more diverse as a consequence.

I’ve been following Wayne Sutton, founder of BUILDUP, a not-for-profit that supports non-conventional technology entrepreneurs, with connections, mentoring, and education, and founder of the Tech Inclusion Conference. New on the scene is Arlan Hamilton is the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital. Before she founded a venture fund, Arlan was a popular lesbian blogger and tour manager working on live shows for artists like Jason Derulo and Pharrell Williams. Arlan got her start by forming a syndicate on Angelist and investing small amounts in ventures.

Women led venture capital and seed funds are on the rise. Take for example, Aspect Ventures, founded by Theresia Gouw (ex-Accel Partners) and Jennifer Fonstad (ex-DFJ). Gouw and Fonstad raised $150m for Aspect’s inaugural fund.

Nancy Pfund, a founder and managing partner of DBL Partners made the headlines in 2015, when they announced its $400m third fund, making it the largest impact investment fund.

Pique Fund is a seed fund focused on BC-based, women-led impactful ventures. We have 12 founding investors, 10 of whom are women and our 2-person Board is exclusively female. By changing the ratio of female representation in venture investing, we’re paving the way for leadership diversity.

Interested in diversity? Contact Bonnie at bonnie[at]piqueventures[dot]com to find out how you can invest in Pique Fund and be one of the leaders that are changing the face of venture investing.

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Pique Ventures helps investors make an impact by integrating the critical information investors need to make effective, risk-managed decisions. We manage Pique Fund (Pique Venture Investments (VCC)) and also provide products and services such as deal origination, venture evaluation, due diligence, and fund development.

Pique Fund is an impact investment fund where you can make a difference with your investment dollars, in the company of other like-minded people. You can also read more about Pique Fund here.

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