Empowering Diverse Investment: Culture Shift Labs to Assemble Largest Ever Conference of Black and Latinx Venture Capitalists and Institutional Investors

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This fall's invitation-only summit led by Culture Shift Labs (CSL) presents a rare opportunity for leading companies and investors to meet, vet, and fund the fast-growing ecosystem of Venture Funds run by Black and Latinx founders.

Hosted at Infor, CSL's annual three-day Culture Shifting Weekend offers institutional investors, social impact investors, corporate VCs, and the broader investment community direct engagement with this burgeoning niche of general partners (GPs). More than 180 representatives from companies such as RBC Capital Markets, SAP, PayPal, Boeing and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to attend.

Months after attending 2017's Annual Culture Shifting Weekend, three venture capitalists (VCs) received $16 million in funding. Beyond this committed capital, VCs who attended last year's event are currently being vetted for additional $50 million of investment. Due to the higher number of institutional investors and GPs expected at this year's Weekend, Culture Shift Labs estimates funding will increase by 2-3 times year-over-year.

"Enabling introductions and transactions in one location with investors and Black and Latinx VCs who say they are looking for each other, is about financial inclusion and is critical to closing the wealth gap," said Andrea Hoffman, founder and CEO of Culture Shift Labs. "There are at least 120 Black and Latinx VC firms now seeking the right partners and paths forward for their funds. Historical lack of awareness of this community has limited companies' ability to access new revenue streams, co-investment opportunities, competitive advantages, acquisitions and initiatives that can propel their businesses forward. Our event fills a unique and unmet need in the marketplace."

"RBC Capital Markets is glad to be aligned with work that is innovative, transformative and inclusive where profit and purpose meet," said Michael Carter, Co-Head of Global Technology Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets. "Culture Shifting Weekend represents that."

EVENT DETAILS

• Title Sponsor: RBC Capital Markets
• Investors Attending: Corporate VCs, nonprofit foundations, fund of funds, family office CIOs, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and angel investors, including:
• Alabama Power
• Colonial Consulting
• Toyota AI Ventures
• Ford Foundation
• M12
• IBM Ventures
• Square 1 Bank
• Cambridge Associates
• University of Miami

VCs Attending: Over 20 Black and Latinx VCs will be speaking including Daryn Dodson of Illumen Capital and Shauntel Garvey of Reach Capital.

• Invited Speaker: Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller
• Featured Speakers:
• Fireside Chats:
• Jeremy Liew, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures with Denmark West, Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Connectivity Ventures
• Fred Wilson, Partner at Union Square Ventures with Joanne Wilson, Angel Investor, Blogger, Co-founder of Women's Entrepreneur Festival Gotham Gal Ventures
• Rachel Lam, Co-Founder at Imagination Capital with Andrea Hoffman

For more information please visit the event website.

This event is open to select media representatives by request.

ABOUT CULTURE SHIFT LABS (CSL)
CSL advises Tech & Fortune 500 Companies, Non-Profits, CEOs, Cities, Investors and Philanthropists on creating and activating growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion. CSL applies their Knowledge + Network Formula™ to produce measurable outcomes for clients including leveraging their 6K Database of Black subject matter experts to increase diversity on corporate and non profit boards, in the c-suite and help companies be deliberate about diversity in corporate venture, corporate development, mergers & acquisitions and more. Culture Shift Labs is based in New Jersey with a satellite office in San Francisco, CA.
http://www.cultureshiftlabs.com/

ABOUT CULTURE SHIFTING WEEKENDS (CSW)
Culture Shifting: A Weekend of Technology, Innovation & Social Impact is an annual invite-only bicoastal event that takes place in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley. These are the only events of their kind in the United States that unite over 300 accomplished Black & Latinx tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and social impact leaders to celebrate, collaborate, and make deals.

Each coast has a different format; Silicon Valley is the largest gathering of Black leaders in tech, innovation and social impact. Silicon Alley is the largest gathering of Black and Latinx Venture Capitalists. CSW is an annual signature event of Culture Shift Labs.
https://www.cultureshiftingweekends.com/

ABOUT ANDREA HOFFMAN
Ms. Hoffman is an advisor, dealmaker, strategist, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of CSL. Leveraging more than 20 years of strategy, business development and advisory experience, she consults with senior leaders and C-suite executives across a wide range of industries on finding new growth opportunities. By helping clients see past long-held perceptions regarding the intersection of innovation, inclusion and diversity, she guides clients to insights that unlock growth. Her advisory services help clients to see how business, technology and demographic shifts are related, and how leveraging those forces to improve business and societal impact are both possible and profitable. Ms. Hoffman's second book, 50 Billion Dollar Boss: Stories from African American Women Entrepreneurs on Leadership and Success (Palgrave Macmillan) was published in 2015, and nominated for a 2016 NAACP Image Award. She has included in a wide range of media outlets, from Bloomberg and the Christian Science Monitor to Fast Company and Washington Post and has spoken or led panels at Milken Global Conference and National Association of Corporate Directors.

CONTACT INFORMATION
For Culture Shift Labs
Karen Lewis
Going Public PR
[email protected]

For RBC Capital Markets
Chris Gillick
ICR
[email protected]

SOURCE Culture Shift Labs

Related Links

http://www.cultureshiftlabs.com