The first volume of this series focused on firms leading investments, setting terms, and building track records across seed, early-stage, and growth markets in the United States and Canada.
This second volume examines another part of the ecosystem. Some firms here operate through traditional venture funds, the same structure highlighted in Volume 1. Others use rolling fund or fund-of-funds models that allocate capital through emerging managers rather than investing directly in startups.
Together, they represent an important layer of capital formation, helping determine which founders receive early-stage funding and which venture managers gain access to institutional capital.
Slauson & Co.
Founded in Los Angeles by Austin Clements and Ajay Relan, Slauson & Co. invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies across SMB software, enterprise technology, and consumer products. The firm’s thesis centers on identifying founders whose lived experiences create unique insight into underserved markets and overlooked business opportunities.
Slauson closed its inaugural fund at $75 million with backing from major technology companies including Google, Meta, Twitter, and PayPal. In September 2024, the firm closed Fund II at $100 million, demonstrating continued institutional support despite a more challenging fundraising environment for emerging managers.
The portfolio includes companies such as Sienna Naturals, the textured-hair care brand co-founded by Issa Rae that expanded into 178 Sephora stores in February 2025, and Pressed Roots, a rapidly growing blowout bar concept serving women with textured hair. Beyond investing, Slauson operates Friends & Family, an accelerator program that has supported more than 350 founders from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
Black Operator Ventures
Black Operator Ventures (Black Ops) was founded in Oakland by James Norman and Sean Green as the first all-Black general partner team composed entirely of active technology founders investing exclusively in Black-led startups.
The firm closed its debut fund at $20 million with support from notable venture investors including Ben Horowitz, Fred Wilson, and Brad Feld, alongside institutional investors such as Northwestern Mutual, Bank of America, and the University of Michigan.
Black Operator Ventures focuses on seed-stage investments and leverages the operating experience of its partners to evaluate founders building technology businesses in markets often overlooked by traditional venture capital. The firm has invested in 15 companies to date, including a lead role in ChurchSpace’s oversubscribed $1.2 million round, a platform helping faith-based organizations monetize underutilized real estate assets.
The firm’s investment strategy continues to evolve around artificial intelligence, with future investments expected to prioritize companies building AI-native products and infrastructure from inception.
Collide Capital
Few emerging managers entered venture capital with stronger ecosystem credentials than Aaron Samuels and Brian Hollins.
Before launching Collide Capital, Samuels co-founded AfroTech, one of the largest technology conferences focused on Black professionals, while Hollins served as a founding board member of BLCK VC, the nonprofit organization focused on increasing Black representation within venture capital.
Collide closed its inaugural fund at $66 million in October 2022. The fund was anchored by the University of California Endowment, with additional backing from Amazon, Alphabet, Twitter, Bank of America, Citi, Northwestern Mutual, Bain Capital, Insight Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
In April 2026, the firm closed Fund II at $95 million, bringing total assets under management to approximately $170 million. The firm has backed more than 75 companies to date, with over 80 percent led by underrepresented founders. Today, Collide invests from pre-seed through Series A across enterprise software, sustainable supply chains, and consumer technology.
Black Tech Nation Ventures
Based in Pittsburgh, Black Tech Nation Ventures was created to address one of venture capital’s most persistent challenges: the lack of institutional capital reaching diverse founders outside traditional technology hubs.
The firm is led by Seán Sebastian, Kelauni Jasmyn, and David Motley and invests primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages.
The fund’s first close came in at $25 million in 2021, fueled by heightened interest in diversity-focused capital following 2020, before tightening investor sentiment slowed the back half of the raise. The fund ultimately closed at $50 million in February 2024. Investors include Alphabet, Bank of America, Mark Cuban, First National Bank, and First Close Partners.
The portfolio includes fintech, enterprise software, and emerging technology companies such as Conduiit and Brevity. The portfolio is 100 percent Black-led and diverse, with 50 percent of limited partners also identifying as diverse or Black. The firm’s most recent investment was in Dalinea in September 2025.
Kapor Capital
While Kapor Capital was originally founded by Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, the firm’s current investment strategy is shaped by managing partner Brian Dixon, who has led investments across seed and Series A companies focused on expanding economic opportunity.
The Oakland-based firm invests in technology companies addressing structural gaps in access, opportunity, and economic mobility. Its investments span healthcare, financial services, workforce development, education, and housing.
In 2022, Kapor Capital closed its largest fund to date at $126 million. The raise marked a significant milestone, as previous Kapor funds had been capitalized directly by Kapor and Kapor Klein rather than outside institutional investors.
Fund III attracted support from organizations including Cambridge Associates, the Ford Foundation, Bank of America, PayPal, and Twilio. More than half of the fund’s portfolio companies have a Black founder, while every investment includes at least one founder who identifies as an underrepresented person of color.
Portfolio companies include Nadia, the maternal healthcare platform formerly known as Cayaba Care, and TomoCredit, a fintech company helping consumers build credit histories without relying on traditional credit scoring models.
Monique Woodard launched Cake Ventures after spending more than fifteen years as a technology operator, investor, and ecosystem builder.
Rather than focusing on sectors, Cake invests around demographic shifts that Woodard believes will define future economic growth. These include the aging population, women’s economic influence, and the transition toward a majority-minority United States.
The firm’s first fund closed at $17 million in January 2023 with backing from Bank of America, Pivotal Ventures, Cendana Capital, Foundry Group, and Plexo Capital.
Cake typically invests in early-stage companies and has built a portfolio that extends well beyond Silicon Valley, with more than half of its companies located outside the region. Forty percent of the portfolio has a Black founder or CEO. Investments include healthcare and fertility-focused businesses such as Culina Health and Frame Fertility.
Woodard’s approach reflects a broader belief that demographic change creates investable opportunities long before markets fully recognize them.
REFASHIOND Ventures
REFASHIOND Ventures approaches venture capital from a different angle than most firms.
Founded by Brian Laung Aoaeh and Lisa Morales-Hellebo, the New York-based firm focuses on startups rebuilding global supply chains, logistics networks, and commerce infrastructure.
Instead of operating through a traditional closed-end venture fund, REFASHIOND utilizes a rolling fund structure that allows accredited investors to participate through recurring capital commitments, with a target of $10 million raised per year.
The firm sources opportunities through the Worldwide Supply Chain Federation, a network of more than 4,000 logistics and supply chain professionals.
Recent portfolio activity includes Truckstop.com’s acquisition of portfolio company Denim in August 2025, Otonomi’s $5 million Series A in October 2025, and Arvist’s $4 million raise targeting the $50 billion warehousing quality control gap in September 2025.
REFASHIOND has also co-invested alongside Black Operator Ventures, including in Stimulus’s seed round. The firm’s specialization gives it exposure to sectors that often receive less venture attention than software or consumer applications.
Plexo Capital
Lo Toney’s Plexo Capital occupies a unique position within the venture ecosystem.
While the firm makes direct investments into startups, its broader influence comes through backing emerging venture managers. Plexo operates as a fund-of-funds, investing in venture firms led by women and underrepresented managers while simultaneously deploying capital directly into high-growth companies.
Plexo closed its first fund at $42.5 million, backed by Alphabet, Intel Capital, Cisco Investments, and the Ford Foundation, typically committing $500,000 to $5 million to underlying funds and $500,000 to $2 million directly into companies. The firm is now investing out of a second fund, and SEC filings put current assets under management at $161.7 million.
Through its network of underlying managers, Plexo’s GP network spans more than 900 companies. Its portfolio includes direct investments in companies such as Blavity, PlayVS, and Wrapbook, which has since reached unicorn status, while its limited partner commitments, including in Cake Ventures, support firms throughout the broader venture ecosystem.
In many ways, Plexo functions as a multiplier. Rather than influencing a single portfolio, its capital helps determine which emerging managers secure the resources needed to build their own portfolios.
