The Power of Network
June 25, 2020Jun 25, 2020 | By Kobie Fuller

Every night as my wife and I tuck our two amazing boys into bed, we say our prayers as a family and ask God to enable us to be the best human beings we can be. I have spent countless hours reflecting on how I can help create a better world for my two sons as they grow up in a world that still currently judges them based on the color of their skin. Although this is something Black people have lived with for generations, the last few weeks have served as an awakening for many that we all can be better and have the ability - and the responsibility - to be agents of change with regards to racism and uplifting the Black community.

As one of the few Black GPs in venture, my non-Black peers would constantly ask me to refer Black founders and operating talent. I believe the desire to fund Black founders exists amongst many VCs, and of course the desire to attract funding is high among founders - but the result is just 1% of all VC-funded startups go to Black founders. I started Valence to attack this problem, with the mission of becoming the bridge between Black Talent and Economic Opportunity & Development in efforts to create massive wealth within the Black community. Getting capital into the hands of talented Black founders is just one aspect of that, but it's a big one - which is why I'm so excited to announce the Valence Funding Network today.

The Valence Funding Network is an exclusive network of GPs from top funds across all stages (accelerator to growth equity). Please check out the full list of initial investors at the end of this post, because I'm grateful to have each and every one of them as part of this solution representing tens of billions in capital. Whereas many non-Black investing partners have not established deep networks with Black talent, the Valence platform aims to eliminate the issue of "how can I invest in the best Black founders who best fit my investing thesis." And let me be clear - it's not a feel-good project. In a VC world where our network and access to outstanding deal flow is our competitive advantage, every GP in the Valence Network now has a chance to tap this community to maximize their fund returns with Black founders who are already in the process of building the next set of unicorns. These GPs are now Valence members and are excited to build with the best and brightest.

Black founders (and founders in the making) also have the ability to learn from these investors about what it takes to attract top tier capital and be coached through virtual town hall events, office hours and 1x1s. Instead of putting the burden on individual founders to find warm intros, or go to all the right schools and have just the right pedigree to get in the boardroom, the Valence Funding Network accelerates and aggregates access to venture's top decision makers, in a space that is designed for and celebrating founders. Valence is not just a tech platform (although we have deep tech) it is a community and we will be expanding the community by integrating voices that represent capital into this ecosystem.

I fully expect to see many funding rounds come out of this network as we are near 8,000 professionals strong and growing fast after only a few months since launch. We are just at the beginning, but I invite you all to join me on this journey. We have many exciting announcements coming over these next few weeks but I will leave you with one last one... I'm thrilled to introduce you to our new leader: Guy Primus, CEO - Valence Enterprises. Not only is Guy a longtime peer in my own personal network, he's also the right person to lead Valence at a time when our mission is more important, and more universal, than ever. Now, back to work!

Valence Funding Network: Launch Participating Investors

  • 645 Ventures, Nnamdi Okike
  • Accel, Rich Wong
  • Base10, Ade Ajao
  • Bessemer, Elliott Robinson
  • Capital G, Gene Frantz
  • Collab Capital, Jewel Burks
  • Concrete Rose, Sean Mendy
  • Defy Partners, Neil Sequiera
  • Equal Ventures, Richard Kerby
  • First Round, Josh Kopelman
  • Forerunner, Brian O'Malley
  • Foundry, Brad Feld
  • General Catalyst, Peter Boyce
  • GGV, Hans Tung
  • Greylock, Sarah Guo
  • High Alpha, Scott Dorsey
  • Lightspeed, Mercedes Bent
  • Lux, Deena Shakir
  • Outlander, Paige Craig
  • Precursor, Charles Hudson
  • Redpoint, Annie Kadavy
  • Sequoia, Jess Lee
  • Sinai Ventures, Jordan Fudge
  • Spark Capital, Nabeel Hyatt
  • Techsquare Labs, Paul Judge
  • Union Square, Rebecca Kaden
  • Upfront, Kobie Fuller
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Kobie Fuller is a partner at Upfront, fashion lover, and washed up sprinter. He's driven by companies who are truly building community.

Recent Thoughts
Investing in Keragon: Adding AI to the Longtail of Healthcare Workflows and Tooling
Read More
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Read More
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Every night as my wife and I tuck our two amazing boys into bed, we say our prayers as a family and ask God to enable us to be the best human beings we can be. I have spent countless hours reflecting on how I can help create a better world for my two sons as they grow up in a world that still currently judges them based on the color of their skin. Although this is something Black people have lived with for generations, the last few weeks have served as an awakening for many that we all can be better and have the ability - and the responsibility - to be agents of change with regards to racism and uplifting the Black community.

As one of the few Black GPs in venture, my non-Black peers would constantly ask me to refer Black founders and operating talent. I believe the desire to fund Black founders exists amongst many VCs, and of course the desire to attract funding is high among founders - but the result is just 1% of all VC-funded startups go to Black founders. I started Valence to attack this problem, with the mission of becoming the bridge between Black Talent and Economic Opportunity & Development in efforts to create massive wealth within the Black community. Getting capital into the hands of talented Black founders is just one aspect of that, but it's a big one - which is why I'm so excited to announce the Valence Funding Network today.

The Valence Funding Network is an exclusive network of GPs from top funds across all stages (accelerator to growth equity). Please check out the full list of initial investors at the end of this post, because I'm grateful to have each and every one of them as part of this solution representing tens of billions in capital. Whereas many non-Black investing partners have not established deep networks with Black talent, the Valence platform aims to eliminate the issue of "how can I invest in the best Black founders who best fit my investing thesis." And let me be clear - it's not a feel-good project. In a VC world where our network and access to outstanding deal flow is our competitive advantage, every GP in the Valence Network now has a chance to tap this community to maximize their fund returns with Black founders who are already in the process of building the next set of unicorns. These GPs are now Valence members and are excited to build with the best and brightest.

Black founders (and founders in the making) also have the ability to learn from these investors about what it takes to attract top tier capital and be coached through virtual town hall events, office hours and 1x1s. Instead of putting the burden on individual founders to find warm intros, or go to all the right schools and have just the right pedigree to get in the boardroom, the Valence Funding Network accelerates and aggregates access to venture's top decision makers, in a space that is designed for and celebrating founders. Valence is not just a tech platform (although we have deep tech) it is a community and we will be expanding the community by integrating voices that represent capital into this ecosystem.

I fully expect to see many funding rounds come out of this network as we are near 8,000 professionals strong and growing fast after only a few months since launch. We are just at the beginning, but I invite you all to join me on this journey. We have many exciting announcements coming over these next few weeks but I will leave you with one last one... I'm thrilled to introduce you to our new leader: Guy Primus, CEO - Valence Enterprises. Not only is Guy a longtime peer in my own personal network, he's also the right person to lead Valence at a time when our mission is more important, and more universal, than ever. Now, back to work!

Valence Funding Network: Launch Participating Investors

  • 645 Ventures, Nnamdi Okike
  • Accel, Rich Wong
  • Base10, Ade Ajao
  • Bessemer, Elliott Robinson
  • Capital G, Gene Frantz
  • Collab Capital, Jewel Burks
  • Concrete Rose, Sean Mendy
  • Defy Partners, Neil Sequiera
  • Equal Ventures, Richard Kerby
  • First Round, Josh Kopelman
  • Forerunner, Brian O'Malley
  • Foundry, Brad Feld
  • General Catalyst, Peter Boyce
  • GGV, Hans Tung
  • Greylock, Sarah Guo
  • High Alpha, Scott Dorsey
  • Lightspeed, Mercedes Bent
  • Lux, Deena Shakir
  • Outlander, Paige Craig
  • Precursor, Charles Hudson
  • Redpoint, Annie Kadavy
  • Sequoia, Jess Lee
  • Sinai Ventures, Jordan Fudge
  • Spark Capital, Nabeel Hyatt
  • Techsquare Labs, Paul Judge
  • Union Square, Rebecca Kaden
  • Upfront, Kobie Fuller