DC Inno has learned that Stanley Kirk Burrell, also known as 1990s hip hop legend MC Hammer, is an active limited partner (LP) in Leesburg, Va.-based SWaN & Legend Venture Partners. According to Jacob Schaufeld, a former analyst at the firm and the son of its co-founder Fredrick D. Schaufeld, Burrell is a longtime friend and LP of the firm.
This is the first time Burrell, a now popular and experienced private investor in tech startups, has been mentioned as an investor in the D.C. tech scene.
An LP involved with a venture capital firm is typically an investor in the firm's fund (cash reserves), which the firm accesses to make/negotiate investments. LPs generally do not have any kind of management responsibility or input regarding investment decisions. Rather the LPs provide cash in the hopes of realizing a return via a portfolio company's exit. As an LP in SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, Hammer is by proxy also a D.C. tech investor.
Earlier this year, prominent local chef Jose Andres revealed the investors of his new fast casual restaurant BeefSteak to The Washington Post. Those investors notably included actor Gwyneth Paltrow. In that same interview with the Post, Andres disclosed that he may look to Burrell for "future fundraising rounds" because "every time he’s in D.C., he eats five times a day at Beefsteak." Venture capitalists Steve Case and Michael Klein were also investors in BeefSteak's $9.25 million Series A round.
Fred Schaufeld told DC Inno that Burrell, a longtime vegan, was in fact a BeefSteak investor though it was not reported by the Post.
Founded in 2011, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners invests in innovative early and growth-stage organizations. They've raised 3 separate funds, with the most recent fund closing about 12 months ago and totaling $150 million, according to Schaufeld.
The firm's first fund was raised internally by its general partners while the second fund included investments made by outside advisors.
Fund 2 held an initial closing with external investors totaling $70.4 million in commitments in 2012. Burrell is an investor in Fund 2 and Fund 3, said Schaufeld. Notable SWaN & Legend Venture Partners' portfolio companies include D.C. area brands Cava Mezze Grill (led $16 million Series C round), Optoro ($50 million Series C participant), Quad Learning and BigTeam.
"He's [Burrell] a tech visionary," SV Angel founder and co-managing partner Ron Conway told SF Gate. Conway added,"lots of other entertainers don't get tech, but he was one of the first people to visit YouTube and Twitter and adopt these technologies; he uses it every day."
Burrell previously co-created a successful Internet dance site called DanceJam.com. He is the CEO of a sports-management firm, which once represented heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, named Alchemist Management. And in 2011 he launched the WireDoo search engine, among other things.
*Image Credit: MC Hammer via Wikicommons
