On August 2nd - 4th, Founder Institute hosted the FounderX 2022 global summit, where the FI network gathered over 3 days for a series of fun virtual networking events, group workshops, and engaging talks from top keynote speakers across the tech and startup global ecosystem.
The goal of FounderX was to facilitate meaningful connections and learning between the entrepreneurs, investors, advisors and leaders in our network—and the tremendous conference turnout achieved that goal, with attendees joining live from across more than 110+ countries and all 6 continents.
Watch Founder Institute EIR Martín Martinez's conversation with a group of diverse VC investor panelists, including Asya Bradley, Kamal Hassan, and Diane Yoo—hear them answer questions about systemic biases in Venture Capital, how and why representation matters across the industry, and much more!
Diversity in Startup Investing: VC Panelist Q&A
Asya Bradley is the Senior Partner at Mendoza Ventures, a VC firm focused on funding diverse founders in fintech, AI, and cybersecurity. She is an active angel, advisor, and champion of diversity and gender balance in the workplace.
Kamal Hassan is the Managing Partner of Loyal VC, a global venture fund with 220+ investments across 50+ countries. Kamal has served as an FI Global Director, and is formerly the INSEAD Alumni Association President, a consultant at Bain & Co, and an engineer at IMAX.
Diane Yoo is the Founding Partner of Parliament Ventures Fund. Diane has invested in 30+ businesses with top tier leads and venture backed Silicon Valley tech companies.
VC Investor Panelist Insights:
- Why representation matters in Venture Capital itself, for creating downstream investments into more startups founded by diverse entrepreneurs
-
Systematic solutions to investor biases in Venture Capital, including blind pitching techniques pioneered by Loyal VC
-
Why diverse co-founding teams outperform more homogenous leadership teams in founding successful companies
-
Why VC fund Investment Committee diversity matters, and how to push for it, internally even as a junior partner in a firm, or externally as a founder
The next FounderX global conference is already in its very early planning phases, most likely to take place in mid-2023, and possibly as an in-person event. To learn more about the FounderX global summit, visit FounderX.com
Graduates of the Founder Institute are creating some of the world's fastest growing startups, having raised over $1.85BN in funding, and building products people love across over 200 cities worldwide.
See the most recent news from our Grads at FI.co/news, or learn more about their stories at FI.co/graduates.
