Harlem Capital Publishes 2021 ‘Diverse Founder Report’ on Black & Latinx VC-Backed Firms

New York-based venture capital fund Harlem Capital has today released its latest 2021 Diverse Founder Report that shows significant growth for Black and Latinx-led venture-backed firms.

Now in its fourth year, the data tracks Black and Brown U.S.-based founders who have raised $1million or more in VC funding. The report gives a comprehensive overview of trends, industries, and firms that have reached this significant milestone.

These latest findings show an increase in the number of founders making the cut. The list grew from 200 in 2019 to 870 founders in 2021 that have raised $1M+ in VC funding, totaling $28.8B.

“Our 2021 Diverse Founder Report is our fourth one, but first collaborating with Crunchbase. We found 870 Black and Latino led companies that have raised $1M+ of venture, totaling $28.8B of total capital,” said Henri Pierre-Jacques, Managing Partner at Harlem Capital.

“We hope this report serves as a guide for VCs to source and invest in Black and Latino founders’ he added. “We also hope it serves as a reference for founders of color to know they aren’t alone, but that there are hundreds of them building incredible businesses.”

Harlem Capital Began Tracking Investments in 2018

Early-stage venture capital Harlem Capital began tracking investments in 2018 because traditional founder databases did not track by race. Their overall goal is to understand minority involvement in the VC space and widen funding access to a promising generation of diverse entrepreneurs. Harlem Capital invests $1 million to $2 million into early-stage diverse-led startups based in the U.S., Africa, and Latin America

Among the other highlights in the report:

• The 870 companies on the list have raised $28.8 billion of capital (this includes all companies ranging from 1995-2021)  with a median raise of $5.5 million
• Total capital raised increased from $2.7 billion in 2020 to $8.2 billion in 2021, with Latinx representing 60 percent of the capital raised.
• 33 percent of the companies on the list are women and 67 percent are men, though women only receive 20 percent of funding
• Men have raised 1.8x more than women and Black men have raised 2.3x more than Black women when it comes to median capital raised
• Latinx men have the highest median raised: $7.5 million

This year’s top industries are software, fintech, and healthcare, representing 34 percent of all companies founded. This year’s report included more data than ever due to Harlem Capital’s partnership with Crunchbase.

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