LatinxVC Announces Silicon Valley Bank Sponsorship to Double the Number of Latinx Professionals Working in Venture Capital

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LatinxVC, a non-profit group led by experienced venture investors focused on growing and supporting the Latinx venture capital ecosystem, today announced a founding sponsorship from Silicon Valley Bank to help realize the group's goal of doubling the number of Latinx VCs in the industry. LatinxVC will use the funds to grow its existing Fellowship, Jobs, and Mentorship Programs, and to expand to local programming around the U.S.

The U.S. venture capital industry is one of the growth engines of the U.S. economy, with $164 billion invested in 2020⁽¹⁾. LatinxVC's first annual report, State of Latinx VCs highlights the massive underrepresentation of Latinos in the venture capital industry, which is the reason that LatinxVC was founded. This report is the first of its kind.

LatinxVC First Annual "State of Latinx VCs'' Report Findings  

• Despite the Latinx population comprising 19% of the US population, Latinx investment professionals comprise only 2% of total venture capital investment professionals and 2% of partner-level venture capital investment professionals at institutional VC firms. ⁽²⁾
• The pipeline coming up the ranks at institutional venture capital firms is even worse as only 1% of non-partner level venture capital investment professionals are Latinx.
• Most institutional venture capital firms have done little to improve these statistics as 86% of institutional VC firms have no Latinx investment professionals and only 2% of institutional VC firms have two or more Latinx investment professionals.
• 59% of Latinx venture capital professionals work at smaller VC funds ⁽³⁾

"The LatinxVC mission and partnership are important to SVB as we aim to increase representation and funding for Latinx individuals in the innovation economy," said Courtney Karnes, Head of Access to Innovation at Silicon Valley Bank. "We're proud to be LatinxVC's founding sponsor and help increase Latinx participation in VC over the next several years. We are motivated to roll up our sleeves and partner to make the goal of doubling the number of Latinx in VC a reality and from there, the sky's the limit."

LatinxVC is the first non-profit to focus on increasing the number of Latinx professionals in VC. To support its mission, the organization has built the leading community for experienced Latinx VC professionals with members from NEA, Menlo Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Base10, Reach Capital, Norwest, and more.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

LatinxVC was founded on the following principles:

• Increase the number of Latinx venture capital investors.
• Support the career development of Latinx venture capital investors.
• Build community among Latinx venture capital investors.
• Provide educational resources that help improve access to capital for Latinx venture capital investors.
• Provide educational resources to the general public that are related to venture capital, technology trends, and Latinx representation in venture capital.

"In a country where Latinos represent 19% of the population and growing, it's unacceptable that only 2% of the VC community is Latino," says LatinxVC Co-founder and Co-President, Rami Reyes, who is also co-founder and Managing Director of NextEquity Partners. "There is a ton of untapped talent amongst the large community of Latinx professionals in tech and finance and we're building LatinxVC to ensure that seeing a Latinx GP is not akin to a unicorn sighting."

LatinxVC has mobilized experienced Latinx venture capitalists in a way that's never been done before. Beyond building a community that includes many active Latinx General Partners across the US, it has launched the first fellowship program focused on teaching Latinx professionals the skills they need to break into VC. Additionally, it launched the first "Founding Manager'' showcase enabling LPs to get exposure to Latinx VCs who have started their own funds.

"We are at a tipping point where there is a concentration of talented Latinx operators and professionals who would make strong venture capitalists," adds Maria Salamanca, LatinxVC Co-founder and Co-President and Partner at Unshackled Ventures. "We know that bringing fresh perspectives to an ecosystem where thinking differently is an advantage to our community. Our organization is excited to work toward a future where we see Latinx VCs being recognized on the Forbes Midas List."

Rami Reyes has been in the VC industry for 11 years, having spent the first five years of his career at Elevation Partners, investing in leading companies like Facebook and Airbnb. After Elevation Partners, he co-founded NextEquity Partners, where he serves as a managing partner and has invested in companies like SentinelOne and MasterClass. Maria Salamanca is a Partner at Unshackled Ventures, where she has been investing for over six years in 60+ companies founded by immigrant founders such as Career Karma and Digital Brain. LatinxVC's other founding board members include Jacob Mullins, Hector Ramos, Noramay Cadena, Alex Marshall, Carmen Palafox, and Juan-Pablo Mas.

About LatinxVC
LatinxVC is a non-profit organization run by experienced venture investors focused on growing and supporting the Latinx venture capital ecosystem. The organization aims to grow the number of Latinx professionals in venture capital, help Latinx venture investors grow their careers and network, and increase the dollars flowing to Latinx venture investors. It was founded by Rami Reyes, Maria Salamanca, and six other Latinx professionals with additional members from NEA, Menlo Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Base10, Reach Capital, Norwest, and more. The organization is based in Silicon Valley. For additional information, visit https://latinxvcs.com/. 

About Silicon Valley Bank
For nearly 40 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international, and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.  

(1) National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) 2021 Yearbook
(2) For the purpose of this report, LatinxVC defines "Institutional VC firms" as venture capital firms whose latest active fund is at least $100m.
(3) For the purpose of this report, LatinxVC defines "smaller VC firms" as venture capital firms whose latest active fund is at least $5m but less than $100m (includes a small number of corporate VC funds).

Media Contact:
Michael Celiceo, CodePR
[email protected]

SOURCE LatinxVC