The Next 14: Black & Latinx Emerging Fund Managers to Know (+ Fund)

It’s been just over a year since Chase and I published 14 Black and Latinx Fund Managers to Know & Fund. As part of leading investment platforms (Republic, Alto & Carta), we’ve seen firsthand the challenges many Black & Latinx emerging managers have faced raising capital, even those with top quartile portfolio performance.

And while much has been written about the lack of funding to underrepresented founders, the painfully obvious solution has always been to increase the density of Black & Latinx investors with check-writing authority.

In the spirit of attaining alpha, we continue to take stock of trends that shape the fundraising landscape for emerging fund managers (EFM’s) and highlight 14 more Black & Latinx checkwriters leading the way.

Year in Review for Active EFMs

According to Pitchbook, venture capital accelerated its growth with $80 billion of fresh fundraised capital in 2020 and a projected $100+ billion in 2021. However, the majority of limited partnership (LP) dollars are flowing to existing managers as they raise larger funds at a much faster pace than in the past. Meanwhile, new funds have been slow to rebound out of COVID.

In 2020, only 87 managers succeeded in closing a first-time fund, a sharp drop from the 145 and 162 first-time US VC funds raised in 2019 and 2018, respectively, despite the fact that institutional LPs like the Kauffman Foundation and consultants like Cambridge Associates have reported that emerging managers and smaller funds tend to outperform larger scale, established funds.

Of those that are raising new funds, as much as 67% of emerging managers’ main source of capital…