- For Black-led startups, the lack of diversity in venture capital can pose a hurdle to access funding
- The number of women and minority-owned venture and private equity funds rose 25% the year after the George Floyd protests, according to Fairview Capital Partners.
- The Jumpstart Nova fund, launched in 2021 to invest exclusively in Black health-tech firms, has raised $55 million from investors including Eli Lilly, HCA Healthcare and Bank of America.
- Dr. Derrell Porter knew he had a good idea: a company that provides a platform to help researchers develop and commercialize gene and cell therapies.“Academic medical centers and scientific innovators — they’re not pharmaceutical companies. They tend to look for partners to help finish the development of their programs,” explained Porter, who founded Cellevolve to help make it easier for those researchers to connect with biotech companies.Getting start-up off the ground meant making his own connection with financial backers, but his timing was bad. He began talking to investors about Cellevolve in March 2020, on the eve of the pandemic shutdown.
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