Black Seed raises £5M to invest in Black British founders

Only 0.24% of venture capital funding in the last decade has been allocated to Black founders. Regarding Black women founders, the figure drops to 0.02%. 

This disturbing figure makes Black Seed, a community-led fund by and for Black founders such an essential venture. Black Seed was founded by poet, activist and former gang leader Karl Lokko who is on a mission to build a fairer business ecosystem. He’s joined by tech entrepreneur Cyril Lutterodt, who has firsthand the hurdles Black founders face when pitching for VC funding. 

In their latest announcement, they have revealed the first close of £5M for their £10M fund, backed by some of Europe’s leading investors such as M&G, Atomico, and Local Globe.

This is the first UK-based fund exclusively for Black British tech founders and is bound to have an unimaginable effect on venture capital funding.

They pair their work as a fund with Brixton-based monthly community events empowering the Black founder community and bringing them together with key investors. Black Seed aims to shift away from a dynamic whereby ‘Black entrepreneurs are over-mentored and underfunded’ and instead directly invest in Black British visionaries and change the landscape of the tech industry.

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