VC News | Fearless Fund closes grant program for Black women business owners
Net promoter score gaining traction at venture capital firms.
From Atlanta, GA:
National Public Radio reports that the Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund, announced it will permanently close its grant program for Black women business owners after a year-long battle over racial discrimination.
In a court filing last week, attorneys representing conservative activist Edward Blum and the Atlanta-based venture fund wrote that both parties “have settled,” asking the court to permanently dismiss the case.
Both parties said the Fearless Fund agreed to permanently close its Fearless Strivers Grant contest, which awards $20,000 to small businesses led by at least one woman of color and other requirements.
“As of today, the Fearless Fund has permanently closed the grant contest and will never reopen it,” the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a conservative group founded by Blum, told NPR in a statement. “The American Alliance for Equal Rights encouraged the Fearless Fund to open its grant contest to Hispanic, Asian, Native American and white women, but Fearless has decided instead to end it entirely.”
From Boston, MA:
You’ve no doubt heard the term “net promoter score” (NPS). It is a market research metric that is based on a single survey question asking respondents to rate the likelihood that they would recommend a company, product, or a service to a friend or colleague.
If it is a new term, it is used to gauge brand loyalty and defines individuals by how they respond. Those who give ratings of 9 or 10 are classified as “promoters,” those with ratings of 7 or 8 are “passives,” and those with ratings of 1 to 6 are “detractors.” The overall score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital (VC) arm of Japan-headquartered electronics manufacturer TDK Corporation, wrote a recent article for the Harvard Business Review where he discussed the NPS in relation to VC firms.
“Every business is defined by its customers — but it’s not always obvious who an organization’s customers really are. When it comes to VC firms, investors have historically and unsurprisingly viewed their limited partners (LPs) — the source of VCs’ funding — as their customers,” Sauvage writes.
He notes that “in the early 2000s, some VCs began suggesting that the entrepreneurs in whom they invested were their true customers. Today, this narrative has grown increasingly widespread, with more and more VCs claiming that they view their founders (not their LPs) as the customer.”
Sauvage ends the article by outlining a four-step approach to bring the NPS methodology to life in a VC fund.
From Covington, KY:
Cincy Inno reports that eGateway Capital has closed on its $94 million Fund II, which it will use to invest in growth stage tech companies in the eCommerce and supply chain space. Founded in 2021, eGateway had set an initial target of $100 million when it first disclosed plans for Fund II in early 2022 – and it nearly reached that goal despite it being a historically challenging time for fundraising, especially for new firms.
“Chad Summe, the firm’s Managing Partner, said he celebrated briefly. But it’s now back to business. It plans to invest in five to 10 additional companies, in addition to its current 12-start-up portfolio,” the article explained.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!