📢 HCP Newsletter: Hispanic Heritage & New Hires 🚀 – September 2024
Harlem Capital’s monthly recap on our portfolio, industry news & beyond! 🏎️💨
The Headlines 🗞️
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month 🎉
The U.S. Latino population is teeming with ingenuity, tenacity, and growth. Here’s a snapshot of the landscape:
👥 Demographic growth: Latinos make up 20% of the U.S. population, and are expected to account for 29% of the U.S. population in 2050
💸 Economic growth: The U.S. Latino economy contributes $3.6 trillion to U.S. GDP, and is growing 2.6x faster than the U.S. economy overall
🎓 Higher education: Between 2000 and 2022, Latino enrollment at 4-year institutions increased by 287%
📈 Entrepreneurship: 60% of new entrepreneurs in the U.S. in 2023 identified themselves as Latino
The U.S. Latino population is a massively under-tapped opportunity. Yet, only <1.5% of VC funding goes to Latino founders, and <0.1% of VC funding goes to Latina founders. It’s a head-scratching puzzle and we’re deeply committed to investing in the next generation of Latino entrepreneurs.
A major shoutout to our amazing Latino founders and teammates:
And of course, two of our own – Principal Nicole DeTommaso and our new Senior Associate Ricardo Matias!
Alongside Harlem Capital, many of our peers are laser-focused on backing brilliant diverse founders: we’ve curated the list of funds here. Let's thrive together 💪🏼💪🏾💪🏿
HCP Grows the Team 🌱
We’re overjoyed to welcome Ricardo Matias as Harlem Capital’s newest Senior Associate. Ricardo’s journey began as an intern at Harlem Capital, followed by two terms as a Venture Fellow.
He brings vast experience, having worked as an analyst at Common App and as a consultant at McKinsey. Currently based in LA, Ricardo will focus on sourcing investment opportunities, supporting portfolio companies, and advancing diversity in venture capital.
Learn more about Ricardo here, and connect with him!
Enterprise Vertical Software: Lessons from the Titans 🗒️
In our latest blog post, HCP Partner Gabby Cazeau and Fellow Alivia Jiang dive into the key strategies for startups targeting enterprise-scale vertical software markets. What can we learn from juggernauts like nCino, Veeva, and Mark43?
We identify four key factors to success: validating customer pain points, leveraging partnerships for scalability, securing marquee clients for credibility, and expanding TAM by adapting core offerings.
At Harlem Capital, we have held a long-standing conviction in vSaaS and are particularly excited about Enterprise vSaaS’s attractiveness for early-stage investment. Read the full report here.
Curious to learn more? We share insights on our vSaaS portfolio companies in The Future of Software is Vertical. In Lessons for Vertical SaaS Startups from the Public Market, we narrow in on key lessons for startups from successful public vSaaS companies.
Portfolio News 🏆
🍝 Linked Eats has acquired HCP portfolio company Sauce! Sauce offers cutting-edge AI solutions that transform digital ordering for restaurants, enhancing revenue management and customer engagement. Congratulations to Colin Webb, Nenye Anagbogu, and the whole team.
🐶 Wagmo has made it to CB Insights' 2024 Insurtech 50 list, spotlighting the top insurtech innovators globally. Wagmo is dedicated to making pet wellness a priority, with insurance plans that ensure our furry loved ones get the best care. Kudos to Christie Horvath and the Wagmo team! 🐾
🚮 🧮 TrashLab & Fintary: Henri and Gabby were asked to name the most promising startups of the year. Fintary is an AI-powered financial operations startup for the insurance industry. Trashlab is pioneering all-in-one software for waste management. Learn why we believe these startups are leading the way! Check out the full article here.
Harlem Capital Related 🚀
A warm welcome for our Fall 2024 Intern Class: Jorge Guajardo Sada, Paulina Linares, Anissa Lee, Samantha Preston, and Chelsea Hamlet! Two returning fellows Amir Williams and Alivia Jiang from Summer 2024 are also part of this cohort.
Harlem Capital’s 10-week internship program is highly competitive, with 5 outstanding individuals chosen from a pool of 1,840 applications. This diverse class includes 2 undergraduates, 2 full-time employees, and 1 MBA student. Notably, 60% are first-generation college students, and 80% applied more than once, showing their dedication and determination to join us.
Over the years, we’ve had 122 interns across 21 cohorts, with 17,000+ applications. Interested in joining us next? Our winter applications are live ➡️ harlem.capital/internship. Applications close on October 8. Shoot your shot!
Diversifying the World of AI
Henri joined Bloomberg to share Harlem Capital's approach to investing in AI. We focus on vertical AI applications, targeting niche and focused industries like accounting, project management, and beyond.
We're not just riding the AI hype; we're strategically investing in vertical AI applications. From TestParty's AI-driven ADA compliance solutions to Fintary's rapid growth as an AI-powered account reconciliation platform, we're backing founders tackling specific, industry-critical problems.
Harlem Capital’s Fall Fete
🍂 The Harlem Capital team bid farewell to the summer and ushered in autumn with our annual 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐞 for the HCP community. Bring on Q4!
🚨 Jobs in VC 🧑🏾💻
Jobs at HCP portfolio companies harlem.capital/jobs
Helpful Resources 💯
Secret Sauce to Sales: Unusual VC 🔎🔎
A tactical deep dive into how founders need to think about sales
The Verticalization of Everything: NFX 🪜🪜
AI-empowered vertical companies are likely to unbundle and dominate
How AI is Meeting a Values Shift Among Consumers: Forerunner 🧩🧩
An emphasis on convenience & price (access) → convenience & quality (edit)
Stay connected with us on LinkedIn and X for more updates. See you next month!