British Black Voices in Venture Capital

We are coming to the end of Black History Month, which has been celebrated every October in the UK for over 30 years — a way of acknowledging, celebrating and reflecting on the achievements of those of African and Caribbean descent in the UK.

Within our community of Venture Capital, we are far away from the representation we would like to see, but are optimistic of the progress that is being made. To that end, in celebration of Black History Month, we’d like to elevate the black voices in the industry. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there are many more black VCs and ecosystem partners doing amazing work behind the scenes. Below you’ll find a selection of blog posts, articles, podcasts by some of the brilliant Black voices that we can celebrate.

10x10 VC — a network of Black and mixed race VCs

You can read more about Black History month here.

Anu Adebajo

• Investor at British Patient Capital (@AnuAdebajo)
• Listen — Benedict Evans of Entrepreneur First and Mosaic Ventures and Anu Adebajo of British Patient Capital

Andy Ayim, MBE

• Founder of Angel Investing School and Ada Ventures Angel Investor (@AndysHVC)
• Watch — How to get angel investors for your business

Daisy Onubogu

• Head of Network at Backed VC (@Madame_Daisy)
• Read — Dear Allies, you will be tired but you must persist
• Read — Shroedingers Bias

Andy Davis

• Partner at 10x10 Fund, and Angel at Atomico (@MrAndyDavis)
• Read — The Black Report

Kwaku Nortey

• Startup Founder, ex investor (@KwakuNortey)
• Read — Growing up Black in London

Judith Dada

• Partner, La Famiglia (@DadaJudith)
• Read — Solving the Second Order Problems of Remote Work

June Angelides, MBE

• Investor at Samos VC @JuneAngelides)
• Watch— The Secrets to Fundraising (and Investing) From Your Living Room
• Watch — Believe it, Achieve it with June Angelides

Joshua Olusanya

• Notion Capital, Analyst (Joshua Olusanya)
• Read — An Opinion Piece — featuring COVID 19, George Floyd & Venture Capital

Keji Mustapha

• Platform at Connect Ventures (@keji_osf)
• Read — How can investors help founders develop healthy mental wellbeing?

Rodney Appiah

• Co-founder of Cornerstone Partners and Investor at Foresight LLP (@rodneyappiah)
• Read — Changing the game: how Cornerstone Partners are leveling the playing field for black and diverse founders

Zoe Jervier Hewitt

• EQT Ventures, Operating Partner (@zoejerv)
• Read — Emerging companies thrive on data. Shouldn’t they use it to improve hiring decisions?

Dele Akinyemi

• Investor at MMC Ventures (@delsakin)
• Read — The road to 4 million meals: some takeaways from my time at Gousto

Ladi Greenstreet

• Head of European Investments, Accenture Ventures (@ladigm)
• Watch — How the best CVC Maximise their Investments

Sam Ahmed

• Nauta Capital, Head of Comms & Marketing (@ZamSays)
• Read — Getting a job in venture when you don’t fit the stereotype
• Read — In times of crisis, do good

Yvonne Bajela

• Principal, Impact X (@YvonneBajela)
• Read — How my black-led VC is backing under-represented founders

Tunde Adekeye

• Investor, Icebreaker VC (@RiskyTund)
• Read — Failing Forward: How and Why it took me three years to break into VC

Harry McLaverty

• Founder, Simplify VC, Atomico Angel (@harrymclaverty)
• Read: A Wealth Derived Tax Model

Eric Collins

• CEO and Co-founder Impact X
• Read — Use your money to support racial equality

Additional people to follow on Twitter:

• Ella Wales Bonner, Investor at JamJar
• Michael Tefula, VC at Downing Ventures and Team at Diversity VC
• Alex Wilson, VC at White Star

Diversity VC
Michael Tefula, Shriya Anand & Check Warner