D.C. venture capital firm Zeal Capital Partners has hired Stefanie Thomas, a founding member and investor with Oakland, California’s Impact America Fund, as managing director.
Thomas will oversee Zeal’s pre-seed investment strategy and portfolio that focuses on sourcing, investing and scaling early-stage tech startups. She will also oversee Zeal’s commitment to inclusive investing through a pre-seed investment platform backed by Barclays and managed by Zeal. The platform is aimed at building the next generation of Black-led technology companies through issuing early-stage capital.
Thomas will “spearhead a timely effort to propel the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs and companies shaping the future of technology and business at scale,” Nasir Qadree, Zeal’s founder and managing partner, said in a statement. "Stefanie’s leadership will add to our continuing commitment to provide capital and support systems to businesses that produce outsized returns, empower diverse management teams and help grow the next generation of venture capital professionals.”
Zeal hired Jarron Smith, a former executive with TIAA, as chief operating officer and managing director in April. Both Smith and Thomas will hold managing director titles, according to a Zeal representative.
Zeal specializes in investing in early-stage fintech and future-of-work entrepreneurs. Its inclusive investing strategy homes in on ventures with diverse management teams that can bring about high returns for investors, while having a net positive effect on society.
While with IAF, Thomas helped grow the company from $7 million to $110 million in assets under management while maintaining a focus on communities of color. In the role, she evaluated more than 1,500 companies and deal leadership on 25 financings. Thomas previously co-founded San Francisco’s Women Who Launch, an entrepreneurship platform for women, and was a vice president in Citigroup’s global banking division. She received an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas joins Zeal about two months after it brought on former New Enterprise Associates health care investor Emily Zhen as a principal to branch into the health equity space.
In May, Zeal disclosed plans to launch a second fund of as much as $120 million. It pulled in $62.1 million in its oversubscribed first fund that was closed in mid-2021.
