CHICAGO, May 16, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Today, Angeles Ventures, a Latino and woman-led
early-stage VC fund, announced an equity investment from Bank of
America that will accelerate its goal to find, fund, and grow
Hispanic and Latino ventures in the U.S.
"We're delighted to bring on an
institutional investor that is aligned to our mission."
Latinos account for over 20% of the U.S. population and are the
most entrepreneurial group in the United
States, but they receive less than 2% of venture capital
funding. Angeles Ventures, which aims to bridge this gap, is a
seed-stage fund focused on tech-enabled B2B and B2C startups based
in the U.S. To date, Angeles Ventures Fund I has made four
investments (Storybook, Linker Finance, Certiverse, and Sigo
Seguros), joining successful investors such as Goodwater, Chingona,
Launch (Jason Calacanis), Hyde Park
Ventures, Listen Ventures, and many others in oversubscribed
rounds.
Angeles Ventures is led by two Latino General Partners:
Adela Cepeda, an awarded financial
leader and entrepreneur who exited her previous business, and
David Olivencia, a super angel and
senior executive leader with 28+ years of experience in Fortune 100
Tech Companies. Together, they built the angel investing group
Angeles Investors, which has 260+ members and has made over 23
investments. Angeles Ventures is leveraging the strength of this
network to drive outsized returns and catalyze funding for Hispanic
and Latino founders in the U.S.
Adela Cepeda commented, "We're
delighted to bring on an institutional investor that is aligned to
our mission. The U.S. Hispanic and Latino community is greater than
those of India or Brazil and represents a sleeping giant of
economic might and alpha." David
Olivencia said, "We are honored to have one of the world's
largest banks as an LP. We will continue to raise capital to
further support our mission that has a track-record of driving
outsized returns by investing in the fastest-growing demographic of
the U.S."
"We are inspired by the work of Angeles Ventures to broaden
access to capital to entrepreneurs from such an important segment
of our community," said Rita S.
Cook, president, Bank of America Chicago. "We look forward
to supporting their mission as they leverage their vast network of
Hispanic and Latino angel investors to source pipeline for the
fund."
Bank of America invests equity in women- and minority-led funds
which, in turn, invest in entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to
grow their businesses and drive economic opportunity in their
communities. As of December 2023,
Bank of America has committed more than $550
million in equity investments to women- and minority-led
funds, more than doubling its initial $200
million commitment.
Learn more about Angeles Ventures's news here.
About Angeles
The Angeles platform aims to find, fund, and grow the most
promising Hispanic and Latinx startups. In 2019, Angeles launched
an angel investing group, Angeles Investors, and has since made
over 23 investments totaling more than $7
million, with the participation of ~300 members. This
success has positioned it as one of the largest and fastest-growing
angel investing groups in the U.S. (and the largest one focused on
Hispanic founders).
About Angeles Ventures
In October 2023, Angeles launched
its Fund I to invest in 20-30 tech-enabled seed-stage startups
based in the U.S. led by Hispanic and Latinx founders with checks
ranging from $100k to $1M+. With this
fund, Angeles capitalizes on the tremendous access and momentum of
the Angeles Investors network, leverages the successful track
record of our General Partners (GPs), Adela
Cepeda, and David Olivencia,
and continues to bridge the funding gap for Hispanic and Latinx
founders.
Learn more at www.angelesvc.com, and connect with us on
LinkedIn (@angelesinvestors)
Media contact: Francisco Mariscal
| francisco@angelesvc.com
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SOURCE Angeles Investors