"But what I will say is now founders are the ones that come to investors and say, 'I want to diversify my capital.' Or they're saying, 'My company can't succeed the way it looks like right now it's not diverse enough.'" "That's not a huge difference," she acknowledges. This year, the percentage is closer to 3%. When Sykes started out in venture capital in 2016, she says barely 2% of investors at VC firms were Black. That optimism, she says, is in contrast to just six years ago, when she co-founded BLCK VC, a network of Black venture capital investors with the stated aim "to connect, engage, empower, and advance Black venture investors." Among other things, BLCK VC offers a nine-week program designed to help young professionals break into the venture capital business. I think there's a conversation that's happening now that has a tone that never had before." "But I am more optimistic than I have ever been. "No one is going to look at venture capital and say it's a success at diversity," Sykes says. While Serena Ventures, as her small firm is known, is among a tiny number of VC firms owned by Black women, that's changing, albeit slowly, says Sydney Sykes, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley-based VC firm that invests heavily in early-stage, female-led businesses. The announcement last week by Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles in a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, reignited talk of just how few women and minorities inhabit the elite world of high-stakes venture capital, where often risky investments are made in startup companies in hopes that the investors will reap a significant return. Open, she added an intriguing tidbit about her future: She will turn her focus to a venture capital firm she quietly formed eight years ago. When megastar Serena Williams recently said that she plans to retire from tennis after the upcoming U.S.
Venture capital firm professional#
Serena Williams, professional tennis player and businesswoman, speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center in April in Florida.