Unconventional Ventures is Europe’s first impact fund focused on underrepresented founders.
Nora Bavey, a dedicated mother of three and former edtech founder, unexpectedly transitioned into a prominent impact investor four years back.
"I decided to become the investor I had been hoping to meet while fundraising for my own startup," says Nora.
Unconventional Ventures (UV) was founded in Denmark in 2018, and is Europe’s first impact fund focused on underrepresented founders (identifying as women, LGBTQ+, POC, and/or immigrant) building scalable tech companies with impact at the core.
Check out the full interview here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dcQp4zaz
@identity.vc Launches Europe’s First LGBTQ+ Venture Fund
by Til Klein 🏳️🌈 🇪🇺, Founding Partner at identity.vc I Backing LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs.
👇 Why it matters 👇
This early-stage fund focuses on LGBTQ+ founders, unlocking untapped potential and riding global megatrends. With 15% of startups led by LGBTQ+ co-founders, this fund could fill a massive gap in Europe’s VC scene.
Backing diverse teams isn’t just feel-good—it’s smart investing. Studies show diverse teams outperform and identify.vc is betting on this to drive innovation and deliver strong returns across Europe’s startup ecosystem.
Read the announcement on EUVC Insights! 🔽
https://buff.ly/3XIMraW#venturecapital#startupfunding#Europe#EUVCInsights
Founder friends! Applications are now open for ASTRSK's pro bono competition, awarding one-year, full-service PR contract from their entire agency, a $250k value.
Last year, Hadley was very fortunate to win the prize, and it's been a true delight working hand in hand with such a dedicated team.
<1% of venture capital goes to LGBTQ+ founders. When people ask me how I'm building Hadley as a solo founder, I always point to the partners who show up as accomplices. This opportunity reflects ASTRSK's commitment to boosting under-represented founders and also to making our country a better place. ASTRSK recognizes the very real problem we face around under-saving for school and retirement and shares my passion for solving this problem with Hadley.
Because of their incredible work, Hadley has been featured in national media outlets, including broadcast. Thank you, ASTRSK, for helping Hadley refine our voice and message, attract investment, and spread the word to our neighbors about how Hadley is an app you can download to start saving and receive contributions from friends, family, and employers.
Criteria
-Open to consumer-facing, early-stage startups that have raised LESS than $1.5M in funding
-Women, BIPOC, AAPI, and/or LGBTQ+ founded
I encourage founders who fit the criteria to apply, and please feel free to reach out with any qs!
Award-Winning PR, Comms & Brand Strategy Expert | President of ASTRSK PR | Startup Advisor | Comms & Branding Strategist
🥁Drumroll, please!!! We are announcing that applications are open for our SEVENTH Annual ASTRSK Pro Bono Contest!! This year's judges include Michael Kaye (of Match Group's OkCupid & ARCHER), Zhenni Liu (Partner at MaC Venture Capital) and Colin Daniels, M.A. (Editor at ADWEEK).
Since the day I met Elliot Tomaeno, we have always talked about how important it was for us to try and use our "PR powers for good." Being part of marginalized communities ourselves, we know first-hand the struggles many people face when starting and scaling a business, including lack of capital, mentorship, networking connections and more.
As an agency, we have always provided space and offered more flexibility for underrepresented founders with a mission of getting as many of them the spotlight they deserve in the media. I'm so incredibly proud of the work our team has done over the years landing these pro bono clients on Cosmo to WSJ to Bloomberg, NYT and much more.
Who will be next?!? More information and link to apply below!
Open to consumer-facing, early-stage startups that have raised LESS than $1.5M in funding and are either women, BIPOC, AAPI, and/or LGBTQ+ founded – the winner is granted a one-year, full-service PR contract from our entire agency of comms experts! In the last half a decade, we've given over $1.25 MILLION in PR services working with incredible startups and founders at their earliest stages such as Beam Impact (Viveka Hulyalkar and Alex Sadhu), Juicebox (Brianna Rader), Stix (Jamie Norwood and Cynthia Plotch), Both& Apparel (Finnegan Shepard), HairDays, Inc. (Dr. Tiffany St. Bernard,) and most recently Hadley (Yosh Miller).
#pr#help#startups#founders#funding#network#probono#publicrelations#bipoc#aapi#LGBTQ#lgbtqcommunity#femalefoundedhttps://lnkd.in/gmQ_x6hx
🥁Drumroll, please!!! We are announcing that applications are open for our SEVENTH Annual ASTRSK Pro Bono Contest!! This year's judges include Michael Kaye (of Match Group's OkCupid & ARCHER), Zhenni Liu (Partner at MaC Venture Capital) and Colin Daniels, M.A. (Editor at ADWEEK).
Since the day I met Elliot Tomaeno, we have always talked about how important it was for us to try and use our "PR powers for good." Being part of marginalized communities ourselves, we know first-hand the struggles many people face when starting and scaling a business, including lack of capital, mentorship, networking connections and more.
As an agency, we have always provided space and offered more flexibility for underrepresented founders with a mission of getting as many of them the spotlight they deserve in the media. I'm so incredibly proud of the work our team has done over the years landing these pro bono clients on Cosmo to WSJ to Bloomberg, NYT and much more.
Who will be next?!? More information and link to apply below!
Open to consumer-facing, early-stage startups that have raised LESS than $1.5M in funding and are either women, BIPOC, AAPI, and/or LGBTQ+ founded – the winner is granted a one-year, full-service PR contract from our entire agency of comms experts! In the last half a decade, we've given over $1.25 MILLION in PR services working with incredible startups and founders at their earliest stages such as Beam Impact (Viveka Hulyalkar and Alex Sadhu), Juicebox (Brianna Rader), Stix (Jamie Norwood and Cynthia Plotch), Both& Apparel (Finnegan Shepard), HairDays, Inc. (Dr. Tiffany St. Bernard,) and most recently Hadley (Yosh Miller).
#pr#help#startups#founders#funding#network#probono#publicrelations#bipoc#aapi#LGBTQ#lgbtqcommunity#femalefoundedhttps://lnkd.in/gmQ_x6hx
If you're an LGBTQIA+ founder, you NEED to apply to StartOut Growth Lab. As a current cohort fellow, I can tell you it has been a transformative experience surrounded by the best people imaginable. Not only the staff, volunteers, and mentors at StartOut, but also getting to know the other queer founders in the cohort. We're only halfway through and already the deliverables have been priceless.
Don't hesitate! You lose nothing by applying and have absolutely everything to gain.
#accelerator#startups#founderresources#startupsupport#applicationsopen#lgbtqiafounders#underrepresentedfounders
Applications are open! We are proud sponsors of the StartOut Growth Lab, a startup accelerator offering top-quality mentoring, education, and networking opportunities for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Apply to join the next cohort for access to a virtual community of LGBTQ+ founders, mentoring from experts and more.
Which LPs should I meet at TechBBQ? 🦄 🇩🇰
🌈 identity.vc I Backing LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs is Europe's first venture capital impact fund supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs! We're a €50M impact fund (Art. 9 SFDR) investing in startups with LGBTQ+ representation in leadership teams—from pre-seed to Series A, across all sectors in Europe and beyond 🚀
We completed our first close at €15M in May and are now open for investments for the second close 🔥 Seeking to connect with LPs eager to support LGBTQ+ led startups and drive real impact.
🤝 Which LPs should I connect with at TechBBQ in Copenhagen?
#LGBTQ#ImpactInvesting#DiversityInTech#VentureCapital#Startups#IdentityVC#TechBBQ#InclusiveInnovation
Founders, please join for one of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator's most informative and inspiring discussions, led by my business partner and dear friend Brian Hecht. Come hear 3 of our top entrepreneurs talk about their founder experiences and learn more about our upcoming Summer 2024 accelerator cohort! #startups#vc#founders#ally#lgbtq
Managing Director at ERA | Startups | Venture Capital
🌈 This cohort, we have the greatest LGBTQ+ representation we've ever had (that I know of). As a gay investor, of course, that's personally very gratifying.
And as I think about tomorrow's LGBTQ+ Pitch Event (Tuesday 3/26 @5pm) here at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator it's caused me to reflect about why we do these events in the first place.
It's not just because we believe in an equitable, level playing field for founders of all types, from all backgrounds. Although I certainly do.
It's also because it makes financial sense. We're an accelerator -- but we're also a VC fund, and it's our job to deliver returns to our own LPs. And like any investor, we are always looking for an advantage…the idea that no one has thought of and, maybe more importantly, the founders that other investors haven't met.
Folks can debate to what extent LGBTQ+ founders are at a disadvantage in the NYC startup scene. But what I've observed is that founders from our community often come through non-traditional channels.
We do these events to create a space where founders feel welcome to participate, learn, and pitch their ideas, even if they feel they're not the "venture type" (whatever on Earth that is). If we're going to meet extraordinary founders, we need to dive deep into extraordinary communities.
Which is all to say, I hope you'll join us for tomorrow's event -- allies are welcome!
We'll have a panel of entrepreneurs and experts to discuss the topics I've written about here and hear pitches from some amazing founders with exciting ideas. Thanks in advance to Catalina Daniels, Carlo Cisco, Noah Robinson, MSc, and Jessica Offer from our wonderful supporter Withum.
Hope to see you tomorrow!
https://lu.ma/era27-lgbtq
🌈 This cohort, we have the greatest LGBTQ+ representation we've ever had (that I know of). As a gay investor, of course, that's personally very gratifying.
And as I think about tomorrow's LGBTQ+ Pitch Event (Tuesday 3/26 @5pm) here at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator it's caused me to reflect about why we do these events in the first place.
It's not just because we believe in an equitable, level playing field for founders of all types, from all backgrounds. Although I certainly do.
It's also because it makes financial sense. We're an accelerator -- but we're also a VC fund, and it's our job to deliver returns to our own LPs. And like any investor, we are always looking for an advantage…the idea that no one has thought of and, maybe more importantly, the founders that other investors haven't met.
Folks can debate to what extent LGBTQ+ founders are at a disadvantage in the NYC startup scene. But what I've observed is that founders from our community often come through non-traditional channels.
We do these events to create a space where founders feel welcome to participate, learn, and pitch their ideas, even if they feel they're not the "venture type" (whatever on Earth that is). If we're going to meet extraordinary founders, we need to dive deep into extraordinary communities.
Which is all to say, I hope you'll join us for tomorrow's event -- allies are welcome!
We'll have a panel of entrepreneurs and experts to discuss the topics I've written about here and hear pitches from some amazing founders with exciting ideas. Thanks in advance to Catalina Daniels, Carlo Cisco, Noah Robinson, MSc, and Jessica Offer from our wonderful supporter Withum.
Hope to see you tomorrow!
https://lu.ma/era27-lgbtq
🌈 Calling LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs and Investors in Paris 🇫🇷
Are you an early-stage LGBTQ+ led company gearing up for venture capital funding? Or perhaps you're an investor eager to support promising LGBTQ+ startups across Europe and beyond?
Identity Ventures, Europe's trailblazing Venture Capital Fund committed to backing LGBTQ+ led companies, is making its way to Paris in mid-April, and we want to connect with you!
Whether you're seeking funding or looking to invest, let's meet up and explore how we can collaborate to drive LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship forward.
Drop us a message or comment below if you're interested in meeting up. 🌟 #LGBTQ+ #VentureCapital#LGBTQEntrepreneurs#Investment#Paris#Startups
Identity.vc is bringing capital and community to Europe's LGBTQ+ venture ecosystem | TechCrunch
When Til Klein and Jochen Beutgen came across Gaingels, the U.S.-based syndicate of angel investors backing LGBTQ+ founders, they wondered why there wasn’t a firm looking to do the same for the European LGBTQ+ startup community. Five years later, when a firm like that still didn’t exist, Klein and Beutgen decided they should try to launch one themselves.
In 2023, the pair launched Identity.vc, a venture firm that invests in early-stage companies with at least one founder or executive who ide...
Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dHgaDCCH
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General Partner at Unconventional Ventures
3moThank you GoClimate for all the amazing work you do and for highlighting the work we do at Unconventional Ventures ❤️