The United States is in the midst of a surge of small business formation. In 2022, about 1.7 million people filed to start new businesses, according to the Economic Innovation Group’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau. That’s up more than 28% over pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Including businesses not likely to employ others, the number […]
Venture capital
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VC Spotlight: Unshackled Ventures Closes $35M To Fund Immigrant Founders
Immigrants start businesses at twice the rate of native-born Americans. But many potential immigrant entrepreneurs face an awful headache: the paperwork required for work authorizations and permanent residencies. Unshackled Ventures helps ease the pain and has established a strong track record by specializing in this niche. Founded in 2015 by Manan Mehta and Nitin Pachisia, […]
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VC Spotlight: Hustle Fund Focuses On How Entrepreneurs Build Companies
Eric Bahn, Elizabeth Yin and Shiyan Koh, are co-founders and general partners at Hustle Fund. Launched in 2017, Hustle Fund looks for entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas and can hustle, which Bahn further describes as, “It’s more about how you build and how fast you learn.” Name: Hustle Fund Location: San Carlos, California Website: hustlefund.vc […]
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VC Spotlight: Aperture Focuses on Diverse Founders in Fintech
Aperture Venture Capital has taken a different route to raise money for its fund. Instead of focusing on obtaining capital from wealthy individuals, more than 95% of the money it has raised is backed by corporate investors, which can often invest more capital into a fund than individual investors. Bank of America, Progressive Insurance, PayPal, […]
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VC Spotlight: Zane Venture Fund in Atlanta Focuses on Diverse Founders in Southeast U.S.
Shila Burney worked for 20 years in the nonprofit sector, for organizations like the American Cancer Society, Points of Light, and the Black Women’s Health Imperative. She also was a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Burney, an Atlanta native, knew that diverse entrepreneurs faced challenges in accessing capital. In 2019, she launched Zane Access, a […]
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VC Spotlight: VEST Her Ventures In Oklahoma Focuses on Future of Work, Care Economy
After spending several years working at a private equity firm that invests in aerospace and defense companies, Erika Lucas founded StitchCrew in 2017. The non-profit organization connects women and BIPOC entrepreneurs with capital, resources and networks needed to launch and scale companies. StitchCrew created programming via workshops, coaching sessions and networking opportunities for traditionally overlooked […]
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A Crop Intelligence Startup Backed by Salesforce’s Benioff Aims to Help Farmers Feed the World
Times of E’s series: Deep Dives into Secondary Cities was sponsored by Armory Square Ventures (ASV). ASV is a returns-oriented, mission-focused technology venture capital firm based primarily in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. It is an optimism engine for secondary cities and a community catalyst for regions outside Silicon Valley. You can read other articles […]
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Venture Spotlight: Cake Ventures Invests in Demographic Change
Founded in 2021, Cake Ventures invests in areas where the future of technology is being shaped by major demographic changes. It focuses on startups that harness these demographic shifts in the Internet user base: the large population of aging boomers, the increased spending power of women, the growing number of people of color and shrinking […]
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Venture Spotlight: Realist Ventures In Connecticut Focuses on Biotech, Healthcare
After spending over 20 years working as a software engineer in the technology and business sectors, Marie Rocha pivoted to becoming an entrepreneur in 2010. While Rocha was building her business, a tech platform geared to help small businesses and nonprofits, which no longer exists, she realized women and minority founders were left out of […]
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VC Spotlight: Boomerang Ventures in Indiana Focuses on MedTech and Health
Unexpected fact: Warsaw, Indiana, population 16,000, is the orthopedic capital of the world. One hour west of Fort Wayne, Warsaw is home to more than 100 medical device companies, like Zimmer Biomet and Paragon Medical, working on the mechanics and processes that make hip implants and other sophisticated surgeries possible. . The medical device industry […]
