Huntington National Bank (NASDAQ: HBAN) has made a $3 million commitment to Brown Venture Group, a Minneapolis-based venture capital firm that funds Black-, Latino- and Indigenous-owned technology startups.
Through its investment, Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington said in its Tuesday announcement that it wants to support Brown Venture’s mission of helping minority tech entrepreneurs “bring their vision to life.”
"A key part of our purpose at Huntington is helping businesses thrive, so we are honored to partner with Brown Venture Group," said Darrel German, Minnesota regional president for Huntington, in a statement.
Brown Venture said that the investment is part of the $50 million inaugural fund that the firm has been building since 2020. It has secured commitments from other organizations such as Bank of America for an undisclosed amount, a $10 million investment from Best Buy in 2021 and $1.5 million from the Bush Foundation in August. The firm told the Business Journal in 2021 that it had secured 75% of its goal.
"We are excited to partner with Huntington as they support underfunded and undervalued minority entrepreneurs," said Brown Venture Group Co-Founder and Managing Partner Paul Campbell, in a statement.
Since its founding, Brown Venture Group said it has invested in 26 U.S.-based technology startups in various industries, including clean energy, fintech, health tech and software.
"We look forward to unlocking the upside opportunity for a group of under-resourced innovators and founders who are still getting less than 1% of venture capital dollars three years after the racial reckoning that started right here in Minneapolis,” Campbell continued.
