📢 HCP Newsletter: 40 Diverse Unicorns Have Raised $22 Billion 🦄 – March 2024
Harlem Capital’s monthly recap on our portfolio companies, industry news, events & beyond! 🏎️💨
The Headlines 🗞️
💰 The Black and Latino Startups That Have Raised $1M+ of VC funding
Our 2023 Diverse Founder Report showcases the 1,256 Black and Latino-led companies that have raised $48.3B. This is our sixth annual report, which has become a cornerstone of Harlem Capital.
Key Highlights:
💥 The 1,256 companies raised $48.3B of capital with a median raise of $6.7M
💥 Women-founded startups represent 33% of the total, but only 19% of capital raised
💥 Seed rounds represent 34% of total companies, but only 4% of capital raised
💥 Software, Fintech & Healthcare represent 34% of companies & 41% of capital raised
💥 California and New York represent 56% of companies & 58% of capital raised
💥 There have been 40 unicorns with $22B of total capital raised
💥 2023 saw a 35% decrease in rounds, with the largest % decline in Series B & E
What’s New This Year:
🦄 The Unicorn Effect
Forty Black & Latino founded unicorns (3 were added this year) raised $22B in capital to date with a median raise of $459M. Notably, 32% of these companies achieved their unicorn valuation by the Series D funding stage and have a median funding year of 2014. From a gender and race perspective, 80% of diverse unicorns are founded by men and 60% are Latino.
🔮 Most Promising Startups
We’ve identified 25 of the most promising startups that have raised VC funding in 2023. Each exceeded above market raise amounts for their stage and exhibited consistent year-over-year growth despite market conditions. In total, they have raised $723M, with a median raise of $19M. Fintech, healthcare, cleantech, and software constitute 60% of the sectors represented, with Fintech being the largest at 24%. Sixty percent of the companies have HQs in CA or NY.
Get a behind the scenes look at the report, helmed by HCP Principal Nicole DeTommaso.
🤝 The Power Table
At Harlem Capital, we believe there’s power and strength in community! And there’s nothing like connecting with peers along the same journey. This year we’re creating spaces to break bread with and learn from late-stage diverse founders.
We hosted our first ‘Power Table’ dinner in partnership with Gunderson in NYC with an inspiring group of founders who have raised $1.5B+ collectively! They are building revolutionary companies like Chatdesk, Squire, Hone, CareAcademy, BlockFi, and more.
As Partner Gabby Cazeau says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” We believe these founders are charting the path for the next generation of diverse founders and are extremely excited to champion them.
Portfolio News 🏆
❎ The Power of Propense: The Future of Cross-Selling
Introducing Propense.ai: the future of cross-selling for professional services firms. Leveraging AI technology, data science, and user psychology, Propense.ai anticipates client needs, streamlining the sales experience and maximizing revenue opportunities. We’re thrilled to be leading the company’s $3M seed round.
Congrats to co-founders Timothy Keith, Nnamdi Anyanwu, and Alexander Diaz Fraenkel. Read more about the company’s vision here.
⛷️ Fresh Powder & Insights from Silicon Slopes
Wil Eyi, CEO of Toolbox, is building a game-changing banking platform for SMBs that allows you to save while spending.
From his humble beginnings in Gabon to leading a thriving venture in Utah, Wil's mission to enhance economic outcomes for the underserved continues to fuel his fire. Watch the inspiring interview here.
🍴 Dishing on Dynamic Pricing
Sauce Pricing is the best way to give your customers deals in an already-inflated market.
Dynamic pricing certainly poses ample opportunity for restaurants, but there are still many important questions for the industry to solve. Check out the CBS News feature here.
Harlem Capital Related 🚀
📈 The Peerless Project
Harlem Capital has a deep appreciation for Management Leadership for Tomorrow. After all, MLT brought Jarrid Tingle, Henri Pierre-Jacques & Brandon Bryant together, creating the foundational friendships & frameworks that would become Harlem Capital.
It’s a great honor to partner with AlleyCorp & MLT on Peerless, a pitch competition investing $1M in one startup & focused on supporting visionary Black, Latine, Native American & Female founders of early-stage companies.
At HCP, we believe in backing the best ideas & building a robust, diverse innovation pipeline. With this partnership, we hope our expertise can help scale these startups for maximum impact.
💡 83 Black Investors To Know
Pitchbook is out with its 2024 list of Black founders and investors to know. It celebrates a small fraction of the Black leaders and innovators who are making impacts in their communities, industries, and beyond.
HCP Partner Henri Pierre-Jacques is in esteemed company! Let’s keep growing the list together.
🤔 Racial Disparities in Entrepreneurship
The fight to elevate and empower underrepresented entrepreneurs is a collective one. Harlem Capital is highlighted among a list of venture funds committed to backing the most brilliant diverse founders today. Read the Forbes piece here.
🚨 Jobs in VC 🧑🏾💻
Check out Nicole’s weekly VC jobs roundup here.
Jobs at HCP portfolio companies harlem.capital/jobs
Helpful Resources 💯
A deep dive on New York’s dynamic AI community
16 Changes to the Way Enterprises Are Building And Buying Gen AI: a16z 🤖
New developments for founders to capture this burgeoning opportunity
Consumer Trend Report: Forerunner Ventures 🛒
Adopting the lens of the consumer in 2024 and beyond
Thanks for joining us this month! A special shoutout to the women innovators breaking barriers, navigating uncharted waters, and building boldly. As always, share your ideas here: harlem.capital/pitch.
Over 40% of the HCP portfolio is led by women founders. We are proud to have a majority-female team. To all the inspiring women in our community, we celebrate you today and every day.