Good morning! Olivia Wilde founded an investment firm, 23andMe finds a new board, and a VC firm expands from backing female founders. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
- More than a woman. BBG Ventures was founded a decade ago—it was the peak of the "girlboss" moment, the same year Sophia Amoruso's book coining the term was published and that companies like Bumble were founded.
In the decade since, BBG Ventures has backed female-founded companies across 100 investments; its founders have invested in April Koh's Spring Health, the acne patch brand Starface, and other businesses. But the whole time, partners Susan Lyne and Nisha Dua have had an eye toward other kinds of diversity; 70% of its portfolio of 100+ companies has a founder of color.
Today, I reported for Fortune, BBG Ventures announced a second, $60 million fund with a new mandate: The firm will invest in founders who are female or diverse in some other way, across race, age, and income. It's part of a thesis the partners describe as the "polycultural future of America," the idea that aspects of consumers' identities are inseparable and people make purchasing decisions based on an interwoven web of factors.
While Dua and Lyne are excited about their new thesis, "we knew we would get questions about this," Lyne says of moving beyond investing only in women. In an environment in which programs supporting women in tech are shutting down, big firms like Goldman Sachs have ended programs that back female-founded companies, and women-only founding teams still receive just 3% of VC dollars, any change is likely to spark questions.
BBG Ventures' founding partners emphasize that they will still be scouting for women-led startups. "We are still going to be investing in women in a big way," Lyne says. Adds Dua, "If anything we believe the opportunity for founders who look different is bigger than ever. It's more of a reflection of the world evolving...Gender is not the only difference. Race is not the only difference."
Consumers see themselves beyond one factor of their identity. Dua and Lyne are hoping their fund can be among the first to capitalize on that idea.
Read the full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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