🗒️ Backstage Capital has laid off 75% of its staff
Protocol: Backstage Capital, which invests in underrepresented founders, has cut all of its operational staff after it ran into fundraising challenges, according to founder Arlan Hamilton.
Hamilton spoke Sunday on her podcast about the changes, which reduced its staff from 12 to three. Besides Hamilton, the other two who remain are general partners Christie Pitts and Brittany Davis, who are working on a "special project," Hamilton said.
In May, Backstage announced that it had stopped making new investments and would only make follow-on investments. But it said it was still seeking to raise a $30 million opportunity fund.
🗒️ MaC Venture Capital Announces $203M Fund II After Strong Seed-Stage Fund Performance
Business Wire: LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm based in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, has successfully raised a $203 million Fund II, building on the $110 million seed-stage fund secured in March 2021. MaC Venture Capital, a majority Black-owned firm, will use Fund II capital to double down on their cultural investment framework, which has successfully supported technology startups who are shaping culture, increasing access and resources to underserved communities, and meeting consumer and industry needs.
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🗒️ Does Venture Capital Investment Violate the Ethos of Crypto? Sequoia Says No – Ep. 367
Unchained Podcast: Shaun Maguire and Michelle Bailhe, partners at Sequoia, discuss their long term view and thesis about crypto, what do they look for to invest in a crypto project, the takeaways from the blowup of Terra, the insolvency of crypto companies, and much more.
🗒️ Coalition wants to make more women operators and investors at the same damn time
Techcrunch: In 2020, Thrive Capital asked a cohort of folks — including Glossier VP of Communications Ashley Mayer, Cityblock Health co-founder Toyin Ajayi, Umbrella co-founder Lindsay Ullman and Tribe AI co-founder Jackie Nelson — if they wanted to be scouts, or invest tiny checks on behalf of the firm with a potential for shared upside.
Instead, the four-person group had an idea: Why not pool the scout capital they were being offered and formalize it into a micro-fund to be invested out together. Checks wouldn’t just come with one stamp of approval, but four; and instead of playing subtle scouts, the four operators can see and back a broader range of companies.
After all, invest for the job you want, right?
Twenty checks and two years later, the quartet decided to pitch another idea, this time as a firmer bet on themselves and to a broader group of investors. The vision, launching publicly for the first time today, is Coalition, a fund and operator network designed to increase diversity on cap tables and help founders access some of the top minds in tech.
