Tennis superstar Serena Williams-owned Serena Ventures. This is an early-stage venture capital entity. And it has raised a debut asset of $111 million. In a tweet, she said, that they are thrilled to be announcing their inaugural fund. With an angel portfolio with 13 unicorns and 6 exits, launching a fund was the logical next step. They are excited to continue funding founders that are building a more inclusive tomorrow.
They said in an interview that, the company will primarily help founders and business leaders from underrepresented backgrounds. On its website, SV stated that at Serena Ventures they envision a world in which genius isn’t stifled by a lack of resources. A future in which historically overlooked people and markets are empowered for a more inclusive economy. Today they are excited to share that they have raised an inaugural fund of $111M to continue pursuing their mission. Serena has been a vocal advocate of increasing diversity in the technology space. 76% of the funding has gone to founders. 53% of the funding has gone to women leaders. The SV website elaborated that in an ecosystem where solo women founders receive 2% of venture funding. Black founders receive 1.2%. They don’t require founders to come from historically underrepresented backgrounds, yet 76% of our portfolio founders do.
Serena already is an active angel investor with interests in Daily Harvest and MasterClass. SV has already invested in the in-vogue sectors like Web3, fintech, and edtech. Serena has expressed her disappointment with The New York Times for their huge gaffe. Venus is not related to Serena Ventures. She tweeted, that no matter how far they come, they get reminded that it is not enough. This is why they raised $111M for Serena ventures. Her foray into investing as a venture capital firm is not surprising. Because, she is already a board member of Poshmark and Momentive and runs her own clothing line. She also is a minority stakeholder of NFL team Miami Dolphins among other multiple interests.
