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25 black founders and VCs to watch in 2018

In honor of Black History Month, we’ve compiled a list of 25 black founders and VCs paving the way for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

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Founder and managing partner at
Backstage Capital, a VC firm that invests in women, people of color and LGBT founders.
@ArlanWasHere

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Investment partner at Kapor Capital, a VC firm that backs social impact tech companies.
@MrStartup

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Managing partner at Precursor Ventures, a VC firm focused on B2B and B2C software startups in the pre-seed stage.
@chudson


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Co-founder of Soldsie and CEO of Wonderschool, a startup that partners with educators to create childcare programs and preschools in local communities.
@8ennett


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Senior engineering manager at Patreon and a founding advisor of Project Include, a nonprofit using data and advocacy to accelerate diversity in the tech industry.
@EricaJoy


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Founder and managing director of Base Ventures, a seed-stage VC firm with a portfolio including AngelList, Wildfang and PlanGrid.
@basevc


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Co-founder of Black Founders and HBCU.vc, a firm that teaches students at historically black universities skills in tech and VC through its student investor fellowship.
@hadiyahdotme


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Founder of digitalundivided, which helps lead black and latinx women through the startup pipeline.
@KathrynFinney


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General partner at Impact America Fund, which invests in tech startups bringing business efficiency, market transparency and non-predatory consumer options to underserved communities.
@KeshaCashIAFund


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Founder and executive director of Black Girls CODE, a nonprofit that teaches computer programming and tech skills to girls and young women from underrepresented communities.
@6Gems


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Co-founder and principal of Black Angel Tech Fund, a firm that invests in tech startups founded by black entrepreneurs.
@kwameyaoanku


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Co-founder and CEO of Code2040,
a nonprofit aimed at helping underrepresented minorities achieve educational and entrepreneurial success.
@laurawp


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Founder of /dev/color,
a nonprofit community for black software engineers.
@makinde


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Founder and CEO of Founder Gym,
an online training center that helps underrepresented founders build successful startups.
@MandelaSH


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Co-founder and managing partner of Cross Culture Ventures, an early-stage VC firm that invests in technology and consumer products. 
@MarlonCNichols


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Former partner at 500 Startups.
The first black partner at 500, Woodard has new, undisclosed project(s) in the works. 
@MoniqueWoodard


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Founder and CEO of Blavity,
a news and entertainment platform for black millennials.
@MorganDeBaun
 


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Co-founder of Pindrop and co-founder and CEO of Luma
the provider of a wifi system that allows users to manage network security and performance.
@pauljudge


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VC at General Catalyst and co-founder of Rough Draft Ventures, a student team that backs student-led startups with up to $25K in funding.
@badboyboyce


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Angel investor and founder of Proday, a sports-centered media platform that covers style, entertainment and politics.
@sarahkunst


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Co-founder and general partner at Reach Capital, a VC firm that backs edtech startups focused on issues of access and opportunity in education.
@SLP_EDU
 


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Co-founder and managing partner of Cross Culture Ventures, and founder and CEO of Atom Factory, an entertainment management company for global pop culture. 
@CrossCultureVC
 


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Investment associate and head of operations at Precursor Ventures, a VC firm focused on B2B and B2C software startups at the pre-seed stage.
@sydneypaige10


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Venture partner at Backstage Capital, a VC firm that invests in women, people of color and LGBT founders. 
@yvestweets


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Founding advisor of Project Include and founder of ReadySet, an employment policy and recruiting firm that helps tech companies attract, retain and grow diverse talent.
@hutchamachutch
 


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  • kate-clark-1.jpg
    About Kate Clark
    Kate Clark was a staff writer at PitchBook.

    A Seattle native, Kate attended the University of Washington where she studied journalism and international studies. She previously wrote about the Indian startup ecosystem in Bengaluru and freelanced in the Seattle area. Follow her on Twitter @KateClarkTweets.
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