Black-led venture capital firms are stepping in to close the funding gap for backing founders that traditional investors have long overlooked.
And it’s working. For the first time in almost four years, Black startup founders are seeing real momentum. Crunchbase news data shows that Q1 2026 was the strongest fundraising quarter for Black-led startups since mid-2022.
This is a rare bright spot in an otherwise bleak funding landscape for underrepresented entrepreneurs. These venture capital firms focus on pre-seed to Series A stages, targeting sectors like fintech, health equity, AI, and consumer goods to close the racial wealth gap and support founders in traditionally overlooked markets.
Here are eight Black venture capital firms driving inclusive investing in the US.
Growth Warrior Capital
Founded in 2021 by Promise Phelon, a seasoned entrepreneur and tech operator, Growth Warrior Capital (GWC) is an early-stage venture capital firm. Based in Charlotte, GWC focuses on backing “dangerous” founders, those with bold visions, primarily at the Seed and Series A stages. The firm specializes in enterprise AI, fintech, and the future of work, with a strong emphasis on supporting diverse and female founders.
GWC has already backed 11 startups. Its portfolio includes AI-driven companies such as MenuData, a real-time food and beverage insights company; ForceMetrics, an AI platform for first responders; and Softdrive, focused on AI and business productivity. The firm cuts $3 million checks per company and works hand in hand with founders on growth strategy and operations.
Cherryrock Capital
Cherryrock Capital backs underinvested entrepreneurs building transformative software companies that will shape the future. The venture capital firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and was founded in 2023 by Stacy Brown Philpot, former CEO of TaskRabbit, and Saydeah Howard, former Partner at IVP. It is notable for being the first Black woman-founded venture firm to raise a multi-hundred-million-dollar fund.
Cherryrock Capital closed its inaugural fund, Cherryrock Capital Fund I, in January 2025 with $172 million in assets under management. The fund is backed by prominent institutional limited partners including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, MassMutual, and Pivotal Ventures, as well as individual investors such as Reid Hoffman and Sheryl Sandberg.
The firm invests in Series A and Series B rounds for transformative software companies led by Black and Latine founders. Its key sectors include fintech, digital health, enterprise SaaS, AI, and the future of work. Cherryrock takes a hands-on approach, leading rounds and taking board seats to help companies scale from $1 million to $100 million in revenue.
The portfolio remains concentrated, with a target of approximately 12 to 15 investments from the first fund. Notable investments include Vori, an AI grocery software company; Coactive AI, a visual data analytics platform; Vitable Health, a healthcare solutions provider; and Certiverse, a credentialing platform.
Slauson & Co.
Slauson & Co. is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Los Angeles and founded in 2020 by Austin Clements and Ajay Relan. The firm is rooted in economic inclusion and seeks to democratize access to entrepreneurship for historically underrepresented founders, with a particular focus on Black and Latinx founders.
Slauson & Co. manages a $100 million Fund II, which closed in September 2024, following an initial $75 million fund. The firm primarily invests in United States-based companies at the pre-seed and seed stages. Its investment focus centers on two core areas: small- and medium-business SaaS that empowers small business owners, and culturally aligned consumer technology that serves diverse communities.
The firm typically leads or co-leads financing rounds ranging from $750,000 to $5 million, with individual investments of up to $2.5 million. For smaller rounds, Slauson & Co. also offers a non-dilutive Friends and Family Accelerator. To date, the firm has invested approximately $24 million across more than 26 companies, and 95 percent of portfolio companies are led by founders of color.
Named after Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles, the firm operates on the belief that lived experience is a competitive advantage and that talent is evenly distributed, while opportunity is not. Looking ahead, Slauson & Co. expects to invest between $500,000 and $2 million per company and to support 30 startups by 2027, with capital reserved for follow-on rounds.
Base10 Partners
Base10 Partners is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2017 by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian. It is recognized as the world’s largest Black-led venture capital firm. In June 2026, the firm raised its most recent fund of $850 million, bringing total assets under management to $2.6 billion.
The firm specializes in early-stage investments from pre-seed to Series B in companies that automate the real economy. Core sectors include logistics, healthcare, fintech, retail, construction, and food. Base10 focuses on founders solving problems for the majority through operational automation rather than foundation model AI or consumer technology.
Base10 is also distinguished by its Advancement Initiative. The program donates 50 percent of carried interest from select funds to create scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other underfunded institutions. The firm typically invests between $100,000 and $5 million in early rounds. Its portfolio includes notable companies such as Nubank, Figma, Stripe, Notion, Brex, and Wise.
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Harlem Capital
Harlem Capital (“HCP”) is a venture capital firm with a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years. The minority owned, New York-based early-stage company is led by Brandon Bryant, John Henry, Henri Pierre Jacques, and Jarrid Tingle. The firm is focused on addressing the pipeline in venture capital, where only 2 percent of venture capitalists are Black.
According to PitchBook, Harlem Capital currently manages $174 million in assets. The firm has made more than 80 investments and recorded 12 successful exits. Notable investments include Propense.ai, the fintech company Poolit, and the e-commerce platform Gander, as well as Agape, 4Degrees, Blavity, Lami, Primitives, Shine, Toolbox, Stuf, Superstorm, and Sauce.
Collide Capital
Collide Capital was founded in 2021 by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels. The early-stage venture firm invests in companies focused on fintech, supply chain, and the future of work. Collide is among the few venture firms breaking barriers for underrepresented managers in the industry. The firm is based in New York and expects to write checks ranging from $1 million to $3 million.
Collide Capital plans to back at least 30 companies from pre-seed through Series A through 2029. To date, the team has made five investments. Notable investments include Jelou, a New York-based company that helps small businesses in Latin America create AI agents for secure financial transactions, and Sochi, a San Francisco-based company that offers zero-interest financing for car insurance policies.
Gateway Capital Partners
Gateway Capital Partners is the only Milwaukee-based venture capital firm that invests almost exclusively in pre-revenue startups in Wisconsin. Dana Guthrie founded and leads the fund and is cited as Wisconsin’s first Black woman to raise a venture capital fund. Seventy-five percent of its portfolio companies are based in Milwaukee, and seventy-five percent are minority-founded.
Gateway Capital employs a concentrated investment approach, making approximately $400,000 investments in 12 to 15 companies. The firm seeks financial returns while targeting low- to moderate-income communities and founders who use entrepreneurship to build generational wealth. The firm focuses on early-stage opportunities in sectors such as supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing AI.
Portfolio companies include Tip A ScRxipt, Houstr, IcTect, Sonoptima, The Pink Bakery, DropCap, Golgix, and others. Beyond Wisconsin, Gateway Capital Partners is expanding into Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio, bringing the same early-entry approach to the broader region.
MaC Venture Capital
MaC Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building category-defining companies. Headquartered in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, the firm manages more than $600 million in assets and has invested in over 120 portfolio companies. Its investment strategy focuses on identifying founders who are capitalizing on shifts in cultural trends, behavior, and technology to create companies that define new categories.
Four general partners with distinct professional backgrounds founded the firm. Adrian Fenty previously served as Mayor of Washington, D.C. Marlon Nichols was formerly a Director at Intel Capital. Michael Palank served as an executive at the William Morris Agency. Charles D. King founded MACRO and was the first Black partner at a major Hollywood talent agency.
MaC Venture Capital targets companies at the seed and seed plus stages, typically investing between $500,000 and $4 million. The firm maintains a strong commitment to diversity, with 69 percent of its portfolio companies led by BIPOC founders and 36 percent led by women. MaC also pursues a dedicated investment thesis for Africa and has deployed more than $20 million on the continent to support startups addressing significant local challenges.
Notable portfolio companies include Stoke Space, which develops reusable rockets; Pipe, an embedded fintech; Edge Delta, which provides data observability; Afya Rekod, a health technology company; and Ajua, which improves customer experience. The firm has also backed Gimlet Media and Thrive Market. Notable exits include Wonder Dynamics, which Google acquired.
