{"id":9205,"date":"2026-06-27T01:51:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/27\/6-startup-investors-on-what-it-will-take-to-fund-more-black-founders\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T01:51:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:51:50","slug":"6-startup-investors-on-what-it-will-take-to-fund-more-black-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/27\/6-startup-investors-on-what-it-will-take-to-fund-more-black-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Startup Investors On What It Will Take To Fund More Black Founders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This article is the third in a three-part series on the state of venture investment to Black-founded startups in 2026. Driving these reports is data from Crunchbase\u2019s Diversity Spotlight<\/a> feature, which offers insight into diversity in startups\u2019 and investment firms\u2019 leadership teams. Part 1<\/a> explored the data on funding to Black founders, and in Part 2<\/a> we spoke with Black founders who became investors.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Crunchbase data<\/a> tells us Black startup founders still receive only a tiny sliver of venture funding. What the numbers don\u2019t tell us is why investors continue to overlook those entrepreneurs, and more importantly, how the industry can improve the odds for Black and other underrepresented business leaders.<\/p>\n

To better understand what\u2019s driving the persistent gap \u2014 and what it will take to close it \u2014 Crunchbase News spoke with six venture capitalists who actively back Black founders about where they believe the ecosystem continues to fall short and how it can improve outcomes.<\/p>\n

While they offered different perspectives, several themes emerged: Venture firms need to broaden the networks they rely on to source deals, founders continue to face structural barriers long before they pitch investors, and lasting progress will require changes from both investors and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Expand beyond familiar networks<\/h2>\n
\"Arianne
Arianne Kidder, partner at Seae Ventures. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Underrepresented founders face distinct pressures as the venture industry retreats to its traditional networks, according to Seae Ventures<\/a> partner Arianne Kidder<\/a>, who said the pullback in funding to Black founders overlooks where investors can discover market-outperforming businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bar for all founders has gotten higher in recent years, and I don\u2019t necessarily think that\u2019s a bad thing,\u201d she said, pointing out that the surplus of capital during the previous market peak meant startups that probably should not have been funded received investment anyway.<\/p>\n

Still, the subsequent market correction has triggered a familiar defense mechanism among institutional investors, she said. \u201cWhen things get hard, it\u2019s human nature to revert to what you know and what feels safe,\u201d Kidder said. \u201cUnfortunately, that means back to the same networks, and so there\u2019s been extra pressure on underrepresented founders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of viewing diversity through a philanthropic lens, Kidder argues that the current environment means venture investors need to look outside of their conventional circles to beat the market. \u201cAlpha is more likely to be found outside that comfort zone in founders who bring different perspectives and solutions to the table, especially in healthcare,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To date, Boston-based Seae has backed nine Black startup founders. Kidder notes that those entrepreneurs, like with the rest of the founders in the firm\u2019s portfolio, bring \u201cextraordinary grit, experience and passion to building sustainable solutions for the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David
David Hornik, partner at lobby Capital. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Hornik<\/a>, partner at lobby Capital<\/a>, agrees that venture firms\u2019 existing networks tend to limit who gets funded and he argues that expanding those networks requires deliberate action. To that end, his firm several years ago launched Lobby: Elevate, an event designed to support underrepresented startup founders.<\/p>\n

The entrepreneurs who attended the firm\u2019s Founders of Color Summit demonstrate that \u201cwhat is lacking for Black founders is opportunity and investment, not talent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hornik said more venture firms need to intentionally create opportunities to meet founders they would not otherwise encounter, whether through events or by bringing more investors into direct conversations with underrepresented entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Simply agreeing that bias exists, he said, won\u2019t change investment outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is a single white VC I respect who has funded a large cohort of Black founders, myself included,\u201d Hornik said. \u201cI can certainly do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because venture investing is inherently subjective, Hornik argues investors must actively push back against the implicit bias that can shape sourcing and partnership discussions. The funding statistics for Black founders won\u2019t change unless investors are \u201cintentional about the problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Brahm
Brahm Rhodes, co-founder and general partner of Fictive Ventures. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That view is echoed by Brahm Rhodes<\/a>, co-founder and general partner of Fictive Ventures<\/a>, who believes that the many public commitments made by firms to back more Black founders<\/a> in the summer of 2020 following George Floyd\u2019s death were \u201cperformative and not permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cunironic and quick\u201d retreat in the years since has been actively harmful to Black founders, he said. Going forward, the industry needs to make truly structural changes to see long-term improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe warm intro network is the biggest filter in venture, and it\u2019s viewed as an asset, not a structural problem,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re inside, you get meetings. If you\u2019re not, you don\u2019t, no matter how strong the company is. Pattern matching gets the headlines, but it\u2019s downstream of who walks through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhodes argues that many venture capital funds treat sourcing as a \u201cpassive intake.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast, funds that systematically expand their top-of-funnel reach beyond traditional networks tend to discover companies that competitors miss.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a diversity initiative, he noted, but a distinct \u201cinformation advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Break down barriers before the pitch<\/h2>\n
\"Garry
Garry Johnson III, managing partner at Bison Venture Partners. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Garry Johnson III<\/a>, managing partner at Bison Venture Partners<\/a>, a quality often overlooked by investors is resourcefulness. Having built a startup himself before becoming an investor, Johnson said many Black founders learn to build high-quality businesses with far less capital than their peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack founders innovate at the same quality and scalability as others, with a fraction of the capital,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ironically, that same scrappiness often stymies Black founders during the pitch process, according to Charlie O\u2019Donnell<\/a>, founder and general partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures<\/a> and the author of \u201cFounder Unfriendly: What Investors Won\u2019t Tell You About Getting Funded.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell argues that many of the biggest obstacles emerge well before founders ever walk into a pitch meeting, though they continue there.<\/p>\n

Venture firms recruit heavily from elite universities<\/a> where Black computer science students make up only a small share of the student body, he said, while the broader tech ecosystem in Silicon Valley can feel unwelcoming to many Black engineers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSilicon Valley itself is alienating,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cThe Bay Area has no meaningful Black community, the interview panels are all-white, the lunchroom is all-white, and the neighborhoods are all-white. Qualified Black engineers rationally choose to work somewhere they won\u2019t be isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Charlie
Charlie O\u2019 Donnell, founder and general partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNot wanting to be the only Black person in the room isn\u2019t a failure of ambition,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s a reasonable response to a visible signal about what the environment will be like.\u201d<\/p>\n

That disparity continues into the fundraising process itself, according to O\u2019Donnell, who argues that underrepresented founders often ask for less capital and make more conservative projections because they\u2019ve spent their careers facing greater scrutiny and are often expected to justify every dollar.<\/p>\n

Venture investors, however, are by their very nature looking for founders who pitch ambitious, risky, fund-returning visions.<\/p>\n

As one example, O\u2019Donnell recalled a Black urban mobility startup founder whose pitch to VCs became caught between describing the large company he hoped to build and the modest business he had already created on the path to profitability.<\/p>\n

The founder was \u201cpitching the way someone pitches when they\u2019ve been taught that financial responsibility matters, but he was pitching in front of people who don\u2019t care about financial responsibility at all,\u201d he said. \u201cThey care about whether \u2014 if the risk was ramped up high enough \u2014 this could return a fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change the funding playbook<\/h2>\n

Many investors and Black founders who spoke with Crunchbase News came to a similar conclusion: Improving venture outcomes for underrepresented founders will require changes on both sides of the table, with investors broadening who they meet and founders building businesses that make it increasingly difficult to overlook them.<\/p>\n

For venture firms, that starts with intentionally expanding how deals are sourced, rather than relying on warm introductions and longstanding networks.<\/p>\n

\"Khadijah
Khadijah Robinson, general partner at Fictive Ventures. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Khadijah Robinson<\/a>, general partner at Fictive Ventures<\/a>, argues that the responsibility for changing outcomes rests primarily with the institutions that control the vast majority of venture capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cVenture firms led by white people and \u2018model minorities\u2019 should be asked the hard questions,\u201d said Robinson, whose early-stage venture fund is designed to back Black entrepreneurs. \u201cTheir track records should be examined. Their implicit and explicit bias should be called out and they should have to answer for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson believes firms need to do more than wait for investment-ready companies to appear. Instead, she said, they should actively expand their sourcing pipelines and create programs that help founders reach the stage where they\u2019re ready to raise institutional capital.<\/p>\n

For founders, her advice is pragmatic. Entrepreneurs should spend less time chasing investors and more time building businesses customers want, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack founders need to relentlessly pursue sales and customers as they have been indoctrinated to pursue investors,\u201d she said, arguing that strong commercial traction gives investors \u201cless of a choice but to invest\u201d once the metrics become undeniable.<\/p>\n

Rhodes, the general partner at Fictive Ventures, also offered a reminder that venture capital is only one potential financing path. Before pursuing that path to funding, startup founders should first determine whether their business actually fits the venture capital model and the growth expectations that come with it, he said.<\/p>\n

The venture model is built around risk-taking, he noted, but there\u2019s a double standard for white and non-white entrepreneurs: \u201cA Black founder\u2019s first failure gets treated as confirmation,\u201d he said. \u201cA white founder\u2019s first failure gets treated as experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, if a Black founder is determined that venture capital is the right financing source, he or she should recognize that investors are buying a stake in the future outcome of the business.<\/p>\n

That means personal backgrounds, stories and community impacts only matter to investors in so much as they serve to predict a financial return. \u201cNobody is investing in you just because you\u2019re Black,\u201d Rhodes said.<\/p>\n

In fact, he believes that investors who frame their investment decisions around founder identity are typically the first to \u201cdisappear in a downturn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Rhodes advises founders to focus on finding and building for the investors who \u201ctruly understand\u201d the business and are committed to helping build it over the long term.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a view echoed by Kidder. \u201cFocus on the build, get creative to show early proof points \u2026 build and leverage relationships where you\u2019ve built trust and delivered results to seek out investors who believe in you and what you\u2019re building,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd, don\u2019t let the stats dissuade you from the dream. Trust your gut and focus on delivering sustainable results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Crunchbase query:<\/h2>\n