Fellows remotely shadow Halogen team members to get day-in-the-life experience in venture. The Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital aims to give more young people that entry level experience to kick off exceptional careers in venture capital and the world of technology startups.
Of US-based VCs, Deloitte estimates 14% of investment partners are women and just 3% of investment partners are black (compared to 80% white).Īs an apprentice-based business, venture has traditionally been a tough industry to crack into. The venture capital ecosystem lacks diversity today.
“We are thrilled to work alongside Halogen to support the next generation and create a new pipeline for a more equitable and diverse industry.” “ This is a fantastic opportunity to get real mentorship and exposure to early stage venture and help change the face of this industry,“ said Sarah Peluso, Vice President of Consumer Tech Banking from Silicon Valley Bank. The program includes introductory coursework on all aspects of venture capital including guest lectures from key figures at Silicon Valley Bank and Amazon Web Services. Ten fellows have been selected from across the country for the virtual fellowships, from UCLA, to Harvard, to Notre Dame. The program aims to train exceptional undergraduate students in venture capital and to create more opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to become investors. Like the fund, the Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital has a focus on gender dynamics. We look forward to teaching the next generations to look at investing through a diverse lens.“ With over 40% of our female founded portfolio companies led by BIPOC founders, we know this to be true. “As we look at the Venture Capital landscape in 2020 and beyond, we are excited about the opportunity to prove out that diversity breeds success that is diversity of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, and life experiences. “ We have already proven that investing in women is not an impact play, it’s smart business,” said Jesse Draper, Founding Partner of Halogen VC. With the Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital, Draper and her team are expanding their mandate to support the next generation of not just entrepreneurs, but investors as well. (acquired by P&G), and Eloquii (acquired by Walmart). Since then, Halogen has invested in over 60+ female founded companies including The Skimm (with GV), Glamsquad (with SoftBank), Hopskipdrive (with Greycroft), ThisisL. Along with Silicon Valley Bank and Amazon Web Services, the Halogen Fellowship will focus on gender dynamics and address the lack of equity, diversity and funding in Venture Capital.ĭraper launched Halogen VC in 2015 after recognizing startups with women founders were a highly undervalued investment opportunity. Halogen Ventures, Jesse Draper’s venture capital fund focused on early stage consumer technology startups with a female in the founding team, is doubling down on their commitment to improve diversity in technology with the launch of The Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital. She and her team also created the ‘Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital’ to increase diversity and inclusion in the industry.LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 14, 2020– Draper supports the Parkinson’s Institute and is very involved with growing UCLA’s female entrepreneurship community. She proudly sits on the board of directors of Trust & Will, Carbon38, Preemadonna (creator of the Nailbot) and the non-profit board Bizworld and Project Glimmer. Following Jesse’s viral Medium piece, Investing in Women Isn’t a Fucking Charity, she’s become a leading voice of women in technology. Selected as one of the top 10 early stage female investors by Business Insider, Draper was also listed by Marie Claire magazine as one of the ‘50 Most Connected Women in America’, nominated by the NRF as a DealMakeHers, Variety’s Holly’s New Leaders, and Refinery29 30 Rising Stars.” Draper has been a contributor to Marie Claire, Forbes, and is a regular investor and tech personality showcased on Cheddar, CNBC, CNN. Among her 70+ portfolio companies, are the Skimm, Babylist, ThirdLove, HopSkipDrive, The Flex Company, Squad (acquired by Twitter), Eloquii (sold to Walmart) and This is L (sold to P&G). She is a fierce advocate for investing in women and the opportunity for using technology and innovation to solve some of the biggest issues facing women and families today.
Draper, the first solo female GP in Los Angeles is also a 4th generation venture capitalist, and the creator and host of Emmy nominated television series, The Valley Girl Show. Jesse Draper is a mother of 3 boys and founding partner of Halogen Ventures focused on early stage investing in consumer technology companies led by female and co-ed teams.