Episode 20: Pushing For Diversity in Venture Capital, with Mac Conwell II, RareBreed Ventures

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EPISODE 20: PUSHING FOR DIVERSITY IN VENTURE CAPITAL, WITH MAC CONWELL II, RAREBREED VENTURES

How do unrepresented communities find funding when investors are looking elsewhere? Why is diversity so important in venture capitalism? Learn more about how to stand up and stand out during your entrepreneur journey in this episode as you hear fromMac Conwell II, Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures in North America.

About our Guest:
Mac Conwell II is a former software engineer who decided to take on venture capitalism when he realized the need for Black entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from other underrepresented communities, to get funded in the United States. Based out of Maryland, USA, Mac is the Founder and Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures, which focuses on funding startups outside of North America's major tech hubs in Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, during the pre-seed phase.
Mac has founded two companies, one of which he successfully exited, and he has a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer pre-seed companies.

Learn more about Mac here.

In today's episode you'll learn:

• About Mac's journey to becoming a VC, and a fun fact about him
• What RareBreed is looking for in entrepreneurs, and where they're looking
• Why diversity and cultural competency is important in Venture Capitalism 
• How to find and approach investors for your startup
• What needs to change in the funding community to get entrepreneurs from historically underrepresented communities noticed
• Mac's advice for women entrepreneurs looking for pre-seed funding

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Lightship Capital — VC investing in BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women, and people with disabilities.
• Reinventure Capital — VC working to reconstruct access to capital based on the ideals of the Third Amendment to the United States' Constitution, investing in Black, Indigenous, and other peoples of color founders and women founders of all identities.  
• Medium — Open platform, digital publishing site where innovators can write about and share ideas. 
• Rebundle — Female Founded hair braiding company using the first plant-based braiding hair in the U.S., featured in Allure, TeenVogue, and more. 

How to contact Mac:
LinkedIn | McKeever (Mac) Conwell, II
Twitter | @MacConwell, @RareBreedVC
Website | https://rarebreed.webflow.io