Chicago-based Chingona Ventures is one of eight early-stage, Black and Latinx-led venture capital funds that’s receiving a slice of a $50 million investment from PayPal.
PayPal, the San Jose-based payments giant, is providing the capital as part of a commitment to invest $530 million to support Black-owned businesses. PayPal said it will work collaboratively with the VC funds it's providing capital to, and in some cases, invest directly in businesses through PayPal Ventures. Typically, PayPal invests in Series A and later funding rounds for startups in finance and payments tech.
Chingona Ventures, founded and led by Samara Hernandez, launched at the beginning of the year to invest in overlooked founders. The firm invests in not only diverse founders, like racial minorities and women, but also unique business concepts and startups operating in consumer industries, a sector other Chicago VCs are known for avoiding.
The firm considers itself industry agnostic, but gravitates toward fintech, food tech, female tech and wellness products. Chingona’s average check size is about $100,000-$250,000.
Its portfolio of 14 includes Chicago-based Leaf Trade, a startup that’s building enterprise software for cannabis dispensaries and growers.
Other VC funds receiving capital from PayPal include Atlanta-based Fearless Fund; San Francisco-based Precursor Ventures; Los Angeles-based Slauson & Co. and VamosVentures; Washington, D.C.-based Zeal Capital Partners; and New York-based Harlem Capital, which has invested in Chicago startups like 4Degrees.
"Black and Latinx founders have been underrepresented in venture capital funding for far too long," said Dan Schulman, PayPal’s president and CEO, in a statement. "By directing our dollars to investors from underrepresented communities, we're supporting their investment in Black and Latinx entrepreneurs at the earliest stages.”
