BBG Ventures raises new $60M fund to support diverse founders

BBG Ventures raised a new $60 million fund to support founders from “diverse backgrounds,” including gender, race, age, and class, Business Insider reported.

The firm is known for backing exclusively women founders, and this new fund is a slight departure from that focus but comes as funding to diverse founders continues to dip. Crunchbase found that Black founders, for example, landed just 0.3% of all capital raised in the first half of this year, continuing a downward trend that has shown no signs of reversal, Crunchbase senior data reporter Gené Teare told me.

Nisha Dua, the co-founder of BBG Ventures, told Business Insider that returning LPs increased their fund commitments for this fund and that new LPs include Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures and Fairview Capital. The latest BBG fund will focus on diverse founders building in healthcare, fintech, and AI.