VISIBLE NEWS
July 1, 2022
Visible Hands is a VC fund with an accelerator
that supports overlooked talent in building technology startups.
Hello Visible Hands community,It’s official: we'd like to share that we just closed our Fund 1 at $10.5M!Less than two years ago, we pinpointed our mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. We're extremely proud and are thankful to all of those who helped us achieve our goal of raising our first fund, including Bank of America, Equity Alliance, Brown Advisory, Atento Capital of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, individual partners of THL and a related party, Jeffrey Bussgang and Chip Hazard of Flybridge, Bradley Singer (formerly of ValueAct Capital), Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs, Jarrid Tingle, and Henri Pierre-Jacques amongst others.This fund has allowed Visible Hands to invest in 50+ entrepreneurs to date. In addition to the fundraising, we ran and supported our first Visionary accelerator cohort at their earliest stages of company growth to help them build exceptional technology startups.We asked our entrepreneurs to put their trust in us as we support them through one of the most vulnerable journeys anyone could ever undertake—starting a company. We hold that responsibility with the highest regard & are proud to see continued successes from our portfolio.In the words of VH GP & Co-Founder Yasmin Cruz Ferrine: "We’re just getting started. Imagine the possibilities for us and for this ecosystem. We’re geared up to grow."Thank you,The Visible Hands Team
ANNOUNCEMENTS 🗞
Visible Hands GPs & Co-Founders (left to right) Justin Kang, Yasmin Cruz Ferrine, and Daniel Acheampong.
Only a small percentage of emerging fund managers close their Fund I at their original target. A tinier percentage of women of color have ever raised a VC fund of any size. Read more about the VH fundraising journey and the lessons we learned when raising for Fund 1.
Check out Visible Hands in The Boston Globe and Boston Business Journal!
VISIONARIES
💡
Founded by Alyse Dunn, CareCopilot supports people taking care of an adult loved one such as aging parents or an ailing spouse. If you are looking for guidance and resources to help you manage their medical and non-medical needs, CareCopilot has you covered. Sign up for their waitlist here!
Founded by Juan Young, Hudl is a professional networking tool that creates a personalized hub for managing your contacts, easily and efficiently, so you can build more meaningful relationships. Their waitlist just launched, sign up now!
Founders Noelle Acosta of Noula and Isoken Igbinedion of Parfait are joining LaunchHouse this summer to build alongside incredible founders from all over the world. Congrats!
Founded by Shannan Clarke, Queen & Baby supports women during their breastfeeding journey. Breastfeeding is not always easy or encouraged, especially for Black women. Queen & Baby will guide and celebrate you at every step! Sign up for the waitlist here.
WHAT WE HAVE OUR EYES ON 👀
➕ Founder Resources and Events:
Attend this introduction to small business credit on 7/8 hosted by Francisco Gonzalez, Sr. Business Development Officer at LiftFund to get a comprehensive overview of the basics of financing your business.
Square One is accepting applications for the next cohort of their Startup School! This 10-week, virtual accelerator focuses on the early stages of company growth. Apply by 8/1!
LaunchHouse came out with a Startup Library for early-stage founders! They have resources and tools for every step from growth and marketing to financing, to product development.
Harlem Capital put together their recommendations for how to be recession ready. They cover everything from runway to fundraising and what questions you should be asking yourself during uncertainty.
🌎 Ecosystem Spotlights:
/dev/color is hosting #dcim22 — an annual conference for the Black technologists' community to foster empowerment and nurture career growth. The conference will be held at Ciel creative space in Berkeley from 7/14 - 7/16. Register today!
Applications have launched for the LabCentral Ignite Golden Ticket contest. This program offers advisory support, a seat at LabCentral's lab space in Cambridge, and a $15,000 cash prize to diverse founders. Apply by 7/27!
🧑🏽💻 Reading + Listening + Watching List:
Maintaining healthy relationships while being a founder can be difficult and draining. Read these strategies on how to combat emotional exhaustion and how to avoid it damaging your friendships.
Check out the Second Life podcast, hosted by Hillary Kerr, Co-Founder of Who What Wear. Kerr interviews notable women who pivoted professions and have taken new leaps in their careers.
This WSJ article discusses the best practices for networking on slack. Look out for a quote from VH VP & Community Lead, Juan Young, on his insights on slack groups and their role in professional development.
Read VH Product Manager Yulkendy Valdez's reflection on her worst fundraising experience as a founder.
If you'd like your founder resource or event/conference to be featured in our weekly newsletter, shoot us a message at [email protected]
"We believe that we must first acknowledge that the playing field was built to be unequal in order to change it. We know that we must change it."
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