News Read about the Capital Access Lab’s impact and stories from our participating funds. Capital Access Lab News Featured Facebook Linkedin Twitter Founders First Capital Partners brings a different approach to diversity investing By Ron Miller, TechCrunch | December 29, 2021 Unlike most Silicon Valley VC firms, Founders First isn’t looking for the next unicorn. Instead, Folsom seeks out founders from historically underrepresented backgrounds — women, people of color, LBGTQ, veterans — with solid ideas and decent, if not spectacular, revenue and growth who have had trouble getting external investment to help build their businesses. Read more Collab Capital Closes $50M First Fund to Invest in Black Innovators By Jewel Burks Solomon, Collab Capital | May 26, 2021 Jewel Burks Solomon of Collab Capital announces the close of Collab Capital Fund I. We’ve garnered the support of 99 Limited Partners and are thrilled to have over $50M to invest in the best Black led early stage startups over the next few years. We have been intentional and specific about our focus on Black founders since 2018, when we first began planning the launch of our fund. Read more The Economic Imperative to Support Marginalized Entrepreneurs By Alex Kravitz, SOCAP | March 2, 2021 In this episode of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning podcast, Melissa Bradley of 1863 Ventures discusses her work building entrepreneurial support ecosystems from leadership roles across the public, private, and social sectors. She also talks about how the entrepreneurial ecosystem has grown and evolved over the years and the biggest areas of need moving forward. Listen Designing a Fund to Work for Both Investor and Entrepreneur By Alex Kravitz, SOCAP | February 12, 2021 In this episode of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning podcast, Jewel Burks Solomon discusses the innovative structure of Collab Capital, how raising capital as a fund manager compares to raising capital as an entrepreneur, and how her entrepreneurial journey helped shape her work investing in and monitoring underrepresented founders. Listen Removing Barriers to Capital for Entrepreneurs at the Kauffman Foundation By Alex Kravitz, SOCAP | May 6, 2020 In this episode of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning podcast, Philip Gaskin (Kauffman Foundation Vice President of Entrepreneurship) and Agnes Dasewicz discuss the challenge entrepreneurs face raising capital, the Foundation’s effort to create systems-level change in entrepreneurial funding, and why this work is deeply personal for them both. Listen Portfolio Facebook Linkedin Twitter March 2021 What Ended Indie By Bryce Roberts, indie.vc | March 12, 2021 Impact investors turn to revenue-based financing to bridge capital gaps for founders of color By Dennis Price, ImpactAlpha | March 9, 2021 The End of Indie By Bryce Roberts, indie.vc | March 2, 2021 January 2021 Journ By Rachel Brown, BeautyIndependent, Addresses The Biggest Skin Concerns Of Women Of Color With Products Bridging Cosmetics And Skincare | January 11, 2021 Thimble By Lolita Taub, indie.vc, The Community Fund | January 12, 2021 December 2020 Investment Firm Collab Capital Backs Black-Led Tech Startup Leading the Future of Music Licensing By Njera Perkins, AfroTech | December 11, 2020 September 2020 Why I always Have Two Jobs By Jewel Burks, Collab Capital | September 3, 2020 June 2020 Indie.vc: Unicorns Are Out, Profits Are In By Jennifer Alsever, Medium | June 15, 2020 Collab Capital invests in black founder’s beauty startup Hairbrella By Madison Hogan, AtlantaInno | June 9, 2020 February 2020 Finally, A Capital Solution for Black Entrepreneurs Inspired by King’s Whole Dream By Justin Dawkins, Collab Capital | February 12, 2020 Indie.vc Cub Scouts By Bryce Roberts, Indie.vc | February 6, 2020 January 2020 Pivotal Announces US$13 Million Revenue Based Preferred Stock Financing By Pivotal Systems | January 30, 2020 What We’re Reading Facebook Linkedin Twitter January 2022 Here’s how venture capital needs to evolve in 2022 and beyond By Leah Solivan, TaskRabbit and Fuel Capital for FastCompany | January 14, 2021 January 2021 12 ‘flexible VCs’ who operate where equity meets revenue share By David Teten, Versatile Venture Capital, and Jamie Finney, Greater Colorado Venture Fund | January 14, 2021 October 2020 Making the Case for First-Time Funds By Priya Parrish, Impact Engine | October 30, 2020