Mohamed: I’m happy to be here, Spiffy. We, through the organization, are solving the significant funding gap for early-stage startups in Africa.
Patrick: It’s a pleasure to be here, Spiffy—thanks for having me! Did you know that LGBTQ+ founders are often overlooked and underfunded? They face an increasingly uphill battle to succeed in the competitive startup ecosystem. Stories of getting kicked out of families and friend groups simply for being a member of the queer community are commonplace. With these hardships, however, tenacity, drive, and a disruptive mindset are inherently planted and fostered. Chasing Rainbows aims to tap into this underlying resiliency in the LGBTQ+ founder community. We provide capital to companies that cannot rely on “friends and family” due to hatred or bigotry. Via our founder playbook and mentor-driven approach to portfolio management, we also provide support and guidance to these founders to get them to the next tier of funding.
Pocket: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Building the largest global community of women entrepreneurs, SoGal takes an ecosystem approach to address systematic gender inequity. When my co-founder and I met in 2015, women entrepreneurs only received 2% of all venture capital funding. Seven years later, that number remains the same. SoGal has reached 130,000+ women entrepreneurs across 50 cities, trained 150+ women angel investors, and our GPs have underwritten 150+ deals. We’ve invested in 100+ startups across the US, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Africa.