Adeyemi (“Ade”) Ajao is co-founder & Managing Partner at Base10 Partners, an early stage venture capital fund. Base10 recently made news for raising $137 million, the most money ever raised by a Black-led venture capital fund. Before Base10, Ade was a co-founder of Tuenti (The “Spanish Facebook”). He launched Tuenti in 2005 and in 2010,…
One of my goals is to invest in many startups here and on the continent. The African Fintech (Financial technology) sector is one that’s always been interesting to me because of its potential to solve many social and economic issues. According to a recent report from Disrupt Africa, the overall startup funding from venture capitalists jumped…
When it comes to having an eye for startups, Nas knows how to pick them. PillPack, a door-to-door pharmacy service backed by the rapper’s venture capital fund, scored big last week when Amazon acquired the company for $1 billion. Amazon shared the news on June 28, with plans to finalize the deal as soon as this…
Venture capital firm, Backstage Capital recently announced that it has launched a $36 million fund that will invest in Black women founders. The “It’s About Damn Time Fund” as it was called by founder, Arlan Hamilton, will help address the funding gap that exists between investors and Black women in the VC landscape. A…
Less than 1% of American venture capital backed founders are Black and the percentage of Black people in decision making roles within the venture capital arena is not much higher. This lack of diversity within investment firms ultimately translates to a lack of diversity in the companies that they invest in. The good news is that there are…
Black businesses generate over $180 billion in revenue each year and create over 1 million jobs. Also, Black women are the fastest growing segment of new entrepreneurs in the US. Unfortunately, establishments owned and operated by Black entrepreneurs are least likely to receive funding from investors. Ade Omitowoju of Groundwork chats with us about the…