Three partners from the region’s newest venture capital funds shared insights on the local tech sector, opportunities and their respective strategies Wednesday, through a panel discussion at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair.
Ilana Diamond, managing partner, 412 Venture Fund; Zach Malone, partner, Magarac Venture Partners’ and Kelauni Jasmyn, founding general partner, Black Tech Nation Ventures, participated in the virtual event titled “The Future of Venture Capital in Pittsburgh." Lynn Banaszak, executive director of the Digital Transformation & Innovation Center at Carnegie Mellon University, served as moderator.
Fundraising for all three funds began within the past year. Each is based in Pittsburgh. All are excited about building on local momentum and creating a different and unique ecosystem to open doors and create wealth.
“We’re in a very interesting moment in history in general, in our country, our cities, our societies,” Jasmyn said.
The importance of providing access to capital and opportunities beyond the typical recipients has come to the forefront.
“We’re at the precipice where value around what is considered to be financially advantageous is being seen a little differently,” she said.
BTN Ventures is targeting Black entrepreneurs and founders and leadership teams with diverse people. Two of the fund’s three founders are Black. Jasmyn is also the founder and CEO of Black Tech Nation, a nonprofit backed by foundations to create and grow an ecosystem for, initially, local Black technology entrepreneurs that subsequently became national. Jasmyn described it as “a community and family” to support the entrepreneurs BTN Ventures stakes.
Diamond noted that the 412 Venture Fund believes one of the things that will make its portfolio companies more successful is to have a diverse team.
“We’re a for-profit fund and, first and foremost, we need to give good returns to our partners who invest in us,” she said. “However, there’s all this data out there that shows more diverse founding teams outperform less diverse teams. It just makes sense. We set goals for our companies and help them recruit diverse teams. We tell them upfront this is an expectation when we invest in them. The other thing we do is invite more people into the room to help us screen companies and bring their lens with with them.”
MVP modeled its approach from the NFL’s Rooney Rule, centered around encouraging the recruitment and hiring of individuals with diverse backgrounds.
“It’s a very tangible way to put those goals into practice and diversify the workforce in this region,” Malone said. “It’s a tiny way where we’re trying to make a difference. We’re willing to invest where other people may not be. We all personally like that but, more important is the business case for that. There’s a lot of opportunity in the type of founders that may be overlooked.”
The Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association has held 3RVF for almost 20 years to introduce tech startups to potential investors. Since its inception in 2002, participating tech companies have raised more than $825 million. Originally a local event, it has evolved to encompass entrepreneurs from several states and spreading its reach has enabled the fair to become a regional attraction, drawing more investors.
