The Headlines 🗞️

A Retreat Like No Other 🤩

Our founder retreat is a cultural cornerstone of Harlem Capital. We hosted our second annual Harlem Homecoming at Deloitte University in Dallas, Texas.

The theme this year: The Road of Resilience. Amid a market downturn, inflationary pressures, hiring and managing distributed teams, and beyond, our founders experienced a two-day summit filled with tactical and strategic learning. More than anything, we wanted to recognize our founders as holistic human beings and their mental wellness – because in order to nourish others you must first nourish yourself.

Our founders flew in from all around the country (and globe) – traveling from Columbus, New York, Miami, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Nairobi.

Core memories:

Founder panels led by the Harlem Capital team, including “Navigating Challenging Waters,” “Being Customer Obsessed,” and “How to Secure Top Talent”

Fireside chats with phenomenal leaders including Bonobos founder and “Burn Rate” author Andy Dunn and Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar
Strategic breakout sessions on the Power of Storytelling and Leader as Coach
Harlem Capital Olympics – woah, did you know entrepreneurs are a highly competitive bunch! 😅

Among our seven values, we believe the retreat fits squarely into our long-term vision of changing the face of entrepreneurship…and of course, it has helped us to dream bigger. No doubt we’re enjoying and celebrating the journey along the way.

Full recap video here!

The Secret Sauce of Top Founders 🤌🏽

It all started with a simple question – what makes an exceptional founder?

💡Seed stage investing is an art, not a science. And in a similar vein, there’s no one size fits all founder. We asked six unique investors at funds like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Bessemer who picked founders at the seed stage before their companies scaled to unicorn status. We distilled their insights into 7 key traits. Read the full blog post.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Every Day 🎊

The U.S. Latino population is a massively under-tapped opportunity.

$2.6T economy
4.5x faster growth than the US economy
26% of all US GDP growth
30% of US real income growth
80% of net new businesses
52% of US population growth
78% of net new labor force entrants

Yet, <2% of VC funding goes to Latino founders. Harlem Capital is proud to be in the company of other diversity-focused funds deploying capital to Latino founders right now: VamosVentures, L'ATTITUDE VENTURES, Chingona Ventures, Act One Ventures, Supply Change Capital, Ulu Ventures

See the full list of funds here.

🚨 SIX DAYS to apply to our winter internship! 🚨

This 10-week part-time gig is an invaluable opportunity for students, MBAs, or professionals looking to fully immerse themselves in the world of VC. Look where some of our interns have gone on to get full-time VC jobs! Apply or share with someone who should go for it!

Learn more about our illustrious fall interns here.

Portfolio News 🏆

Shine On ✨

Headspace has acquired Shine! Congrats to founders Marah Lidey & Naomi Hirabayashi on this momentous milestone. We're excited to see Shine continue to change lives within its new home at Headspace, the bonafide destination for mental wellness.

The Future of Financial Identity 🪪

Portabl is redefining financial access in Web2, Web3 & beyond. We're so proud to lead the company's $2.5M seed round! ⚡️

As CEO Nate Soffio puts it, "the role your identity plays in your financial life is massive & we think you should have ownership & control over it."

Topping the Charts 🗒️

💼 Jobble made the #Inc5000 list of fastest-growing companies, ranking 16th in Boston!

🏬 Stuf CEO Kat Lau was named to Inc’s Top 100 Female Founders of 2022.

❤️‍🔥 The Agapé app has been going viral on TikTok, racking up 600,000 views and its 4.9-star app is rated #2 in the "Health & Fitness" section in the App Store. Read more about the leading relationship wellness app in this HerCampus feature.

Interested in working at one of the startups in our portfolio? 💻

Submit your information + apply to open roles.

Harlem Capital Related 🚀

HCP Global 🇧🇷

Our Principal Gabby took the main stage at the Latitude LatAm conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She shares her takeaways here. Parabéns!

Making Waves in Miami 🦩

Congrats to our Partner Henri on being named one of the top VCs in Miami. Since he moved there 18 months ago we have grown from investing in 0 to 7 founders in the region 🚀

Break into VC 🏗️

Our Senior Associate Nicole will be sharing the Startup Search stage with investors at Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital to help you navigate your own path into the nebulous world of venture capital. Mark your calendars for October 18. Sign up here!

🚨 Jobs in VC 🧑🏾‍💻

Nicole DeTommaso 🪄 @nic_detommaso

VC Job Openings🪄 Increasing ACCESS to opportunities for those who are looking to break into the industry & don't have the built-in networks. Check out this week's openings (Sept 21-28)👇

VC Recruiting tweets out new job postings on a regular basis. Check them out!

Fellow VCs: Join Harlem Capital's talent platform! It's been a privilege to interview phenomenal intern candidates & we love having them in our network. Now you can tap into our community & request direct intros to exceptional diverse talent.

Helpful Resources 💯

Sample Pitch Deck

Hey founders! Our fellow Ariana Linara created this deck while teaching a peer-led entrepreneurship class at Columbia University. It’s a fantastic starting template.

Non-Dilutive Financing Options

FundStory is the ultimate destination to find ways to raise capital without giving away equity.

HCP Newsletter: Road to 1,000

📣 HCP Newsletter: An Unforgettable…