Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Ulta Beauty commits $25 million to support Black customers and employees, Dolly Parton reworks ‘9 to 5’ for the Super Bowl, and a new fund tries to solve an old problem. Have a great Wednesday.
– VC’s other diversity problem. We often talk about the gap in venture capital funding for founders who are women and people of color. Less talked about is another gap in the VC world, the one that leaves women and people of color underrepresented among limited partners, or the individuals who back funds that invest in startups.
As Emma reports in a story out this morning, a new fund from Acrew Capital, the VC firm led by managing partner Theresia Gouw, is drawing attention to that divide—and trying to close it. Its new Diversify Capital Fund “will target LPs from underrepresented backgrounds and will invest in growth-stage businesses on the path to an IPO—the kinds of investments that are likely to build wealth for investors,” as Emma reports.
“Think about the top growth funds in the Valley—do you know who their LPs are?” Gouw told Emma. “Is there ever any talk about who they’re inviting to participate? The answer is typically something that’s very closely held.”
When people from marginalized groups are absent from the LP ranks it means they’re not benefiting directly from the enormous wealth Silicon Valley is generating—or wielding the influence that may come with it.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, the former president of StubHub and theBoardlist founder, is a founding venture partner of the fund. “I know how much of my own wealth creation has come through ownership,” she says. “And I know how hard access to ownership opportunities is [to find].”
You can read Emma’s full story here.
Claire Zillman
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@clairezillman
Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
