ABOUT
Founded in 2021, The Equity Alliance invests in exceptional venture capital fund managers and startup founders who are people of color and women.
By investing in undercapitalized diverse fund managers and founders, we are unlocking access to superior returns that the rest of the venture market continues to overlook.
Our strategy of investing in funds and identifying the standout portfolio companies within those funds offers a risk mitigated return.
MISSION
The Equity Alliance’s mission is to deliver superior returns to investors while democratizing access to capital and accelerating equity and economic mobility in America.
WHY
Despite continued limited funding, funds with BIPOC and/or women represented in management yield higher returns on average than funds without those attributes.
2020
Market Size:
$70 Trillion Asset Management
Only 1.3% of assets managed by diverse-owned firms.
2.6% of venture funding went to companies with all-female founding teams. Startups led by Black women received just 0.1% of all venture funding.
2022
Market Size:
$82 Trillion Asset Management
Only 1.4% of assets managed by diverse-owned firms.
2.3% of venture funding went to companies with all-female founding teams. Startups led by Black women receive just 0.1% of all venture funding.
WHO
We have a dream team of a Fortune 100 leader, experienced investors, board members, venture-backed startup founders and operators.
Claude Grunitzky
CEO and Managing Partner
Claude’s previous media venture, TRACE, successfully exited with funding from Goldman Sachs. Claude is a Visiting Social Innovator at the Harvard Kennedy School and is a graduate of London University and MIT.
Richard “Dick” Parsons
Chairman
Dick served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller Foundation, Chairman of Citigroup, and Chairman & CEO of Time Warner. He was also the Interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Interim Chairman of the Board of CBS.
Adrienne Rees
CIO and Partner
An experienced, hands-on investment professional with over 10 years of investment experience spanning mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital. Adrienne holds a BS and Masters in Finance from the University of Denver.
Stephanie Van Putten
Entrepreneur in Residence
Founder of Blendoor, a venture-backed diversity rating and hiring SaaS startup. Stephanie holds an MBA from MIT Sloan
and a BS in engineering from Stanford University.
Adam Kiki-Charles
Principal
Former Scout for Vamos Ventures and Venture Architect at BCG Digital Ventures. Prior to venture, he worked for 7 years as a healthcare informatics consultant. Adam holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BA from Brown University.
FOUNDERS
Richard D. Parsons, Co-Founder, R&R Venture Partners; Ronald S. Lauder, Board Member of the Estée Lauder Companies; Kenneth Lerer, Benjamin Lerer and Eric Hippeau, Managing Partners of Lerer Hippeau; Eric Zinterhofer, Founding Partner of Searchlight; Scott Kapnick, CEO of HPS Partners; and Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners.
BOARD MEMBERS
Richard D. Parsons, Chairman; Claude Grunitzky, CEO and Managing Partner; Renée Richardson Gosline, Senior Lecturer and Principal Research Scientist, MIT Sloan School of Management; Will Mesdag, Senior Advisor, HPS Investment Partners; Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners; and Julia Paliare, Founding and Managing Partner, Sage Collective
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Jean-Pierre Adéchi, VC backed serial entrepreneur; Erdin Beshimov, Senior Director at MIT Open Learning; Payne Brown, President of THINK450; Vicki Fuller, Trustee at Blackstone Private Credit Fund; Hill Harper, Actor, author and entrepreneur; Max Jahn, Managing Director at R&R Venture Partners; Natalie Jenkins Sorrell, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at ERF Dallas; Xander Schultz, CEO of Galaxy Labs; Richard Wayner, Managing Partner at Fort Greene Partners; and Ron Williams, Former Chairman, President and CEO at Aetna.
READ
“Racial Equity in Financial Services”
McKinsey & Company
“Diversity Wins”
McKinsey & Company
“Diversifying Investments”
Knight Foundation
“Venture capital for Black entrepreneurs plummeted 45% in 2022”
CNBC
“VC Dollars To Black Startup Founders Fell More Than 50% In 2022”
Crunchbase News
“For Female Founders, Fundraising Only from Female VCs Comes at a Cost”
Harvard Business Review
“For female VCs, bias is a branding issue”
TechCrunch
PRESS
Equity Alliance raises $28.6 million to invest in funds led by women and minorities
CNBC Closing Bell Interview
Richard Parsons Is Investing in People Who Are Overlooked
Washington Post
The Equity Alliance: Changing the Game in Venture Capital
Columbia Business School
INVESTMENTS
Concrete Rose Capital invests financial and social capital into exceptional ventures led by underrepresented founders of color, founders addressing the needs of underrepresented consumers of color, and founders with a demonstrated commitment to creating inclu- sive cultures and building diverse teams.
Cleo Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in tech or tech-enabled startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. Their three key focus areas are Future of Income, Complicated Consumer, and Decentralized Enterprise.
Fearless Fund is looking to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders who are building scalable, growth aggressive companies, and invests in businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or Series A financing.
Collab Capital was built to invest financial, human, and network capital to effectively support, grow, and sustain innovative Black-owned businesses. Collab’s vision is to ultimately establish a pathway toward economic parity, for the Black community, through increased ownership within the innovation economy.
Moxxie Ventures invests in exceptional founders who build products that make life and work better. Moxxie brings operating experience, a diversified network and heart to every investment.
“Ignite Change” is Serena Ventures’ motto. The fund, which focuses on health tech, fintech and ed tech, is known for backing companies that embrace diverse leadership. Serena Ventures gives early-stage companies the opportunity to be heard.
Visible Hands VC is a start-up incubator and fund for diverse founders. The firm runs a 14-week fellowship program providing diverse founders with the tools they will need to succeed. At the earliest stages of company-building, Visible Hands provides meaningful funding, personalized support, and access to amazing networks to help their founders build high-growth startups.
Hometeam Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed stage prop-tech and construction-tech startups. The fund’s managers believe that innovation is a prerequisite to solving the affordable housing crisis. The aim is to close the housing gap.
Divergent Capital specializes in the combination of deep tech and innovative business models. Divergent is a first-check venture fund investing in cutting-edge technologies and scientific innovations at the brink of commercialization.
Volt Capital is an early-stage venture fund focused on crypto and decentralized finance infrastructure. As a crypto-native venture firm founded by founders, Volt uniquely combines technical sophistication with expertise in scaling networks.
NOEMIS Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups at the intersection of fintech, AI/Machine Learning, and Marketplaces. NOEMIS supports amazing founders who are making a strong impact in the world.
Debut Capital invests in early-stage technology based and technology enabled companies founded or led by Black, Latinx, and/or Indigenous founders. Because Debut gets involved early, it is critical that they help founders in the initial stages of their business.
Seae Ventures is an investment firm specializing in early-stage healthcare technology and services companies founded by diverse entrepreneurs including women and those who identify as Black, indigenous, and people of color.
Collide Capital invests in world-changing companies focused on the “conscious generation”. The firm is led by two emerging Black GPs with a passion for challenging the norms of the venture capital industry.
Hannah Grey is a first check venture fund investing in customer centric founders redefining everyday experiences. The firm, which leads a lot of the rounds it invests in, is focused on investing at the pre-seed and seed stage.
Twine Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm partnering with mission-driven founders in areas like human health, climate, and financial empowerment. The founder believes this next generation of founders are especially motivated to work on things that matter.
The Helm is an early-stage generalist venture fund investing in game-changing, technology-enabled companies founded by women. Their focus on women is not to forgo, but to accomplish great returns.
The Venture Collective leverages its team’s experience across different industries and regions to identify the most efficient and effective strategy to source, diligence and develop companies from the earliest stages through to exit. The firm is built on the premise that the biggest financial opportunities of this century will exist at the intersection of impact and transformation.
Supply Change invests at the intersection of food, culture, and technology to catalyze early-stage businesses that modernize the food system. The fund’s two female founders believe in a future of food that is more sustainable both for the planet and for its people.
Ansa is a venture fund built to support founders as they scale. They focus on investing behind new markets, innovative distribution models, and modern software tools—serving as the hub of tomorrow’s leading companies, operators, and ideas.
Ansa makes high-conviction, thesis-driven investments to build a focused portfolio. Their team and community of functional operators bring diverse perspectives to bear, helping the next generation of leaders win.
Esusu supports tenants in building their credit history while providing landlords with valuable data to better predict payment certainty. The company, which raised a Series B at a $1B valuation in 2022, is looking to accelerate their vision to bridge the racial wealth gap.
Altro is a platform helping 18- to 24-year-olds build credit histories and improve scores by reporting subscriptions (e.g. Netflix, Spotify, NYT, etc.) and other everyday payments to credit bureaus. The platform also provides guidance on savings and financial literacy educational content.
EmTech is an application that modernizes the regulatory frameworks of central banks and financial regulators. The solution, which sits on the Hedera blockchain, provides financial institutions the capability to introduce digital financial products (e.g. digital currency) quickly and effectively into their markets.
Breakr is a self-serve programmatic influencer advertising platform that allows content creators to bundle their audience reach as targeted sponsorship ads to sell to brands. Breakr combines these capabilities with deep analytics to connect artists, creators, and brands to create movements through compelling content.
