Proud Ventures’ Post

Huge congrats to our friends at Identity VC who have raised Europe's first fund specifically focused on backing LGBTQ+ founders. We look forward to supporting them as they grow from here!

Being Proud at Slush! 🌈 Today we partnered with our friends at OpenOcean to host Slush's first ever LGBTQ+ side event, with a brunch this morning bringing together queer founders and investors from across Europe. We're already looking forward to next year! Thanks again to the OpenOcean team for partnering, especially Tony Nysten, and Investec Wealth & Investment UK & Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for their continued support of Proud Ventures.

Our Final Proud Summit Speaker Announcements For Day 1! 💯 We are so excited to finally reveal the final LGBTQ+ founders and investors speaking at Day 1 of the Proud Summit on 7th November: Nick Telson-Sillett, Co-Founder of trumpet 🎺, DesignMyNight (exited) and serial angel investor. 💫 Jupiter Butz - Proptech founder, investor and advisor. Jaron Soh - CEO & Co-Founder of Voda: The LGBTQIA+ Mental Wellness App Across two sessions they'll be covering how to scale a founding team as well as identity & mental health as an LGBTQ+ founder. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the best - these sessions will provide rare access to tactical advice from leading queer operators and investors. We have a few spots remaining for Day 1 (Day 2 is now waitlist) so grab your free ticket now in the link in comments. See you on November 7th! 🏳️🌈 #lgbtq #founder #queer #investor #summit #event

The Investor Lineup Keeps Getting Better! 📈 Announcing more of the investors confirmed to attend the Proud Summit Showcase on Day 2. Arya Tandon @ Notion Capital Meera Bissoondeeal @ Element Ventures Zoe (Ziwen) Qin @ Dawn Capital Jeremy Brown @ Anthemis Group Estia Ryan @ Eka Ventures Kiran Sharma @ First Look Kilian Pender @ Northzone Kanishk Walia @ MiddleGame Ventures Brian Lucksinger @ Gaingels Sonia George @ Ascension Alistair Owen @ VentureFriends Aoife Clarkin @ SuperSeed Richard Oakley & Chris Payne @ Oxford Capital Alexander Breeden 安澜 @ Fuel Ventures 🚀 If you are an LGBTQ+ founder, this is your opportunity to pitch to an audience of the UK's top investors at Stripe's HQ. Spots in the showcase are already being allocated on a rolling basis, so apply asap before our deadline of 24th October (Tuesday!). Thanks to Investec Wealth & Investment UK and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for their support of Proud Ventures. #lgbtq #founder #queer #pitch #uk

🌈 Meet More of Our Phenomenal Speakers 🌈 Keep the excitement coming - we're revealing another set of the leaders you'll hear from at the Proud Summit on Day 1: Kiran Sharma - Founding Partner at First Look, pan-European VC investing in minority founders. Lukky A. - CEO & Co-Founder at ClimateX (raised $11m), with a decade of prior experience at global banks. Oliver Beach - COO & Co-Founder at Hyphen, and serial Edtech operator and angel investor. Mandeep Soor - CEO & Co-Founder at Bendi, formerly CSO at Pivigo and Financial Services lead at BCG. Across 2 sessions, they'll be sharing tactical insights on raising your first cheque as an LGBTQ+ founder and how to successfully navigate B2B sales. Capacity is limited, so register on the link in comments to secure your free ticket. Thanks again to Investec Wealth & Investment UK and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for your support of Proud Ventures and the Proud Summit. #lgbt #founder #summit

Get Ready to Be Inspired! 🙌 We couldn't be more excited to reveal just a few of the incredible speakers in our all-LGBTQ+ line up of people you'll hear from at Day 1 of the Proud Summit: Meri Williams, CTO at Pleo, previously CTO at Monzo and Moo. Harry Briggs, Founder turned VC - an early investor in Revolut, THG, GoCardless, Paddle, Wefox. Simon Blakey, Chair of Investment Committee at Playfair and angel investor, investing in UK tech since 2000. Jose Campos, Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, with experience advising startups both in UK and Silicon Valley. Tickets are starting to run low for Day 1 of the summit - secure your spot using the link in comments!

LGBTQ Founders, Meet Your Next Investor 🤝 We're excited to share the first wave of VCs confirmed for the invite-only Proud Summit Showcase on November 8th, hand-picked by Proud Ventures members: Masamba Senghore @ MMC Ventures Will Bennett @ Seedcamp Akash Bajwa @ Earlybird Venture Capital Gabbi Cahane @ Stride.VC Lucile Beaume @ Breega Arjun Jairaj @ A/O Manuel Antunes, Natalia Kovalenko @ Triple Point Thibault D'hondt @ 6 Degrees Capital Guy Bentley @ Crane Venture Partners João N. @ Playfair LGBTQ+ founders, this is your opportunity to get your startup in front of some of the top funds in UK. We're already allocating spots to founders who've applied, so apply asap before our deadline of 24th October. Link in comments.

Making Progress Visible - The Proud Summit & New Backers Proud Ventures are excited to announce that we will be hosting the largest-ever (first?) summit dedicated to LGBTQ+ founders and investors in the UK on November 7-8. This milestone two-day event will bring together leading LGBTQ+ operators, investors and high-potential founders to share insights, expertise and advice. Day 1 will see a range of tactical panels and workshops delivered by all-LGBTQ+ speakers, including multi-exited founders who’ve raised £100ms and veteran VCs who over 15 years have had multiple IPOs and £Bn exits in their portfolios. We'll share more about these speakers over the coming 10 days. Day 2 will see twelve early-stage startups have the opportunity to pitch to a hand-picked audience of leading UK VCs, with Seedcamp, Breega, Frontline Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, Inovia Capital and Playfair among the number who’ve already confirmed attendance. The Proud Summit is a direct followup to our LGBTQ+ Founder Report which highlighted 75% of LGBTQ+ founders aren’t always comfortable sharing who they are to investors. This is one step we’re taking to help change this. Space is limited with applications closing 24th October so head to the link in comments ASAP. New Backers We are also excited to share that Investec Wealth & Investment UK & Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have backed us with sponsorships. This will enable us to invest more into delivering a greater impact quicker. Over the coming year, you can expect more events, impactful initiatives and lots of online activity from us. We will always remain lean, entrepreneurial and hyper-focused on our goal, but look forward to be able to do more to serve our community. #lgbtq #proud #founder #entrepreneur #summit

The Exit Playbook 📈 We're excited to launch Proud Perspectives - a new hub for advice, insights and stories from leading LGBTQ+ investors, founders and operators. To kick things off, Proud Ventures member Nick Telson, co-founder of DesignMyNight (acquired by Access Group) and trumpet 🎺, shared his advice on exit strategy. His top tips: - Align early with co-founders on goals - lifestyle biz or big exit? - Model the revenue, profit, and equity needed to hit financial goals - Scrutinize revenue levers and sales velocity - where's the defensibility? - Come as your authentic self when fundraising - being a great founder requires it - Let data and experience speak - diverse founders bring unique skills Dive deeper into Nick's actionable advice on strategizing an exit from day one in the link in comments. #startup #startups #advice #lgbtq #proud #founderadvice