The AFROTECH™ community continues to push the mission and discussion of inclusivity in the tech space.
As we gear up for AFROTECH™ Conference 2024, let’s dive into a session of the past.
On the Executive Stage at the 2023 AFROTECH™ Conference, Kapor Capital’s founding partners Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor were part of the panel “Closing The Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing” — titled after their book, released in March 2023. Alphonzo Terrell, co-founder and CEO of social media platform Spill, moderated the panel, addressing equity gaps in the startup landscape and how to build a more inclusive future.
Klein and Kapor shared that the company has invested more than $106 million into over 170 companies, 62% of which are women-led or underrepresented founders, according to their website. In addition, Kapor Capital has achieved an internal rate of return of approximately 30%, putting the Oakland, California-based venture capital firm in the top quarter of all VC funds in the U.S.
Klein said her fight to close the equity gap in tech stems from her activism at an early age. With Kapor Capital, she launched a scholarship program for underrepresented students of color at the University of California, Berkeley, after Proposition 209 was passed in California, ending affirmative action in 1996. Additionally, the firm founder wanted to create a space for marginalized groups to feel included.
The scholarship is just one of many experiences that have shaped Kapor Capital’s commitment to prioritizing diversity and impact.
“Closing the equity gap is looking at any company, has to be a tech startup, whose core business closes gaps of access or opportunity or outcome for communities of color and/or low-income communities,” Klein said during the 2023 AFROTECH™ Conference.
Kapor added that before investing in a business, Kapor Capital wants to know the total market opportunity of a company and identify who will benefit the most if the business succeeds, as well as who might be negatively affected. “Who is being served, and is it bringing the top and bottom of society closer together?” Kapor said during the panel. “Or, is it pushing it further apart, for instance, by offering an expensive service to affluent families to allow them to purchase additional advantage in life, like some kind of $300-an-hour tutoring for their kids? When you ask that set of questions and you say, you want the central purpose, you want the gaps to be closed, you make a very different set of decisions about who to invest in and who not to invest in.”
As a leader in the investing space, Klein shared guidance for how other non-POC VCs can actively support Black and Brown founders. She explained the importance of “looking in the mirror.”
“It’s about understanding where the random birth lottery landed you versus some of the people who might be pitching you, because I think it’s so important to understand unfair advantage and where it comes from, and how to face it down,” Klein said. “One of the things that [Kapor Capital] abandoned a long time ago, we got rid of warm intros. They’re inherently biased… It’s all about who you know, it has nothing to do with merit. So think about how does somebody get a chance to pitch you and how can you change that?”
We’re less than 60 days away from AFROTECH™ Conference 2024. Check out the speakers and upcoming sessions mapped out on the schedule and purchase your ticket here.
