Collab Capital’s $75M Fund II Doubles Down On Community-Centered Investing

Collab Capital, the venture firm investing in community outcomes, has closed Fund II with $75 million.  Investors in the fund partners include Apple, Leon Levine Foundation, California IBank and The External Investing Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

This is after their previous success with Fund I which raised $50 million.

Given the numbers, it seemed surpassing Fund I would be no easy feat. However, to co-founders Barry Givens‘ and Jewel Burks Solomon‘s eyes, Fund I was just the beginning.

“Fund I showed us what’s possible when you back the right people with the right support,” said Jewel, who rose to prominence in Silicon Valley and serves as a managing partner. “Fund II is about scaling that belief and deepening our conviction that proximity is power and that founders closest to the problem are best positioned to solve it. We’re investing in the infrastructure of an inclusive economy, where real solutions generate real returns for our communities and for our investors.”

The money will go to people they say are “best equipped to solve real-world, consequential problems through unique market expertise and lived experience.”  

“From day one, we built Collab Capital with a belief that when you invest in the people and communities who’ve historically been overlooked, you unlock outsized potential,” said Barry in a recent Instagram post.  “So this is more than just a fund close — it’s fuel….New Fund Same Mission: Share prosperity,” he shared.

“For context, Black fund managers receive less than 1% of total venture capital allocated annually, making this milestone particularly significant,” Essence reports.

For Fund II, Collab Capital began by honing in their core pillars:

• Encouraging Economic Mobility
• Expanding Healthcare Access
• Community Infrastructure Solutions

This is the lens through which they view Fund II recipients and is their long term vision for Collab Capital, continuing to prioritize advances in systemic inequities.

This fund allows roughly 30 companies to receive $1-2 million over the next five years. 40% of the funding is reserved for the portfolio’s top-performing companies.

For Fund II, they also revisited their “collaboration-as-a-service” model which highlights a more hands-on support as a resource. It provides guidance through personalized coaching, market strategies, and opportunities to further partnership and investments. 

Expanded initiatives for the model include the Executive-in-Residence program and Strategic Town Halls. The Executive-in-Residence program offers recipients expertise based on various sectors. The first is entrepreneur and computer engineer, Dr. Nashlie Sephus, who will provide support in Artificial Intelligence. The Strategic Town Halls are quarterly events attended by industry leaders.

Through these strategies and the grants Capital Collab invested in 38 companies since 2020 including Hairbrella, Revry, Intus Care, Goodr and Culina Health. Their investments allowed many recipients to achieve million-dollar revenue months, secured national contracts and reached cash flow positive. Today, the venture firm has over $125 million in total assets under management.