BBG Ventures was founded in 2014, an era when investors were beginning to pay attention to the untapped potential of female entrepreneurs and their companies. The fund, whose partners spun off from AOL, has committed to backing women-led companies like April Koh’s unicorn Spring Health and acne treatment brand. Starfacebetting that investing in these founders will produce rich results that serve neglected markets.
A decade later, the world has changed and BBG Ventures is adjusting its strategy. The company, founded by Nisha Dua and Susan Lin, has raised a second fund of $60 million. luck He is the first to report. Through this fund, it is expanding its mandate from investing in companies founded by women to investing in startups launched by founders who are female or otherwise diverse across race, age and income.
Across the BBG Ventures portfolio, all Fund 1 companies had at least one female founder; About 70% of them had a founder of color, an anomaly in the venture capital industry Granted 3% of funding in 2023 for women’s teams only. BBG Ventures now has $130 million in assets under management with more than 100 investments. Its second fund is anchored by Michigan State Retirement Services, Illumen Capital, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, along with new LPs Fairview, Pivotal Ventures, California Endowment, and Mizuho. Its second fund has made seven investments so far, including a hiring platform for hourly workers and a baby formula brand, with 14.7% of its $60 million deployed.
However, in the decade since BBG Ventures launched, the “enterprise” has sometimes faced a difficult situation. There was the rise of the “leader”, which was followed by a rapid fall, and the once aspirational term became a hit. While female founders have not stopped building companies, some have complained about what they see as a target on their backs from the press. “The cultural conversation had nothing to do with this decision,” Dua says. “If anything we think the opportunity for founders who look different is greater than ever before. It’s more of a reflection of the evolution of the world. … Gender is not the only difference. Race is not the only difference.”
The company conducted research into what it calls “A multicultural future for Americawhich examines “the extraordinary demographic and social shifts across race, age, and income that are creating a new status quo.” Several trends, including the widening wealth gap, an aging population, and the emergence of Generation Z as the first “majority-minority” generation, have influenced the shift So does the idea that consumers experience their identities in an intersectional way — a mix of gender, race, age, political identity, income, and more. And across demographics, their research finds that priorities like building wealth and securing high-quality health care are consistent Identity plays a role when Black Americans, for example, seek “culturally competent health care,” Dua says. “That’s why we think founders who look different, who can put themselves in their target audience’s shoes, really can,” Dua says. Gaining that competitive advantage in today’s market.”
BBG Ventures sees its pivot not as a move away from female founders, but as a sign of the direction the United States is headed. “It’s really about having a very strong market opportunity and looking for founders that we think are uniquely positioned to solve this problem,” Dua says. “We will continue to invest heavily in women,” Lynn adds.
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