SECOND ANNUAL REPORT

State of Latino/a VCs

Through our research, we aim to bring to light the lack of representation of Latinos/as across the venture capital ecosystem.

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Report Overview

As the broader venture capital ecosystem has reported making progress in achieving broader diversity, we wanted to dive deeper into the state of Latinos/as in the industry. This year’s report is broken down into three separate sections:

The INVESTORS

The State of Latinos/as in VC, taking a statistical approach to understanding the representation numbers in venture firms.

The FundS

The State of Latino/a Founding General Partners (GPs), digging deeper into Latino/a-founded firms and how the community has grown over the last several years.

The Experience

The Latino/a Experience in VC, taking a qualitative approach (through the lenses of over 20 participants) to understanding the challenges and opportunities our community faces within the sector.
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The Landscape

Despite decades of research and concerted effort from organizational leaders and policymakers alike, inequity concerning diversity and inclusion persists in many types of U.S. organizations, industries, and sectors. The venture capital (VC) ecosystem is not an exception.

Across three key indicators, Latino/a representation has been dismal:

Latinos/as comprise only 2% of total VC professionals; the pipeline of Latino/a professionals coming up the ranks of VC firms is 2% (non-partner level).
Minority- and Woman-led firms manage ~1.4% of the $8 trillion venture capital and private equity industries, of which $2 trillion is VC
Latino/a-led start-ups received only 1% of investments made by the top 25 VC firms between 2007-2017
Venture capital is the driving force behind many of today’s most innovative and influential companies, yet diversity in the industry and capital allocation to Latino/a entrepreneurs and investors has remained stagnant. These disproportions are concerning since there is evidence that private capital markets are key drivers of wealth creation. A lack of balance in wealth creation through private capital markets only continues to perpetuate the wealth disparities in America. Given the evidence of disparities across various metrics, It is essential to study the representation of Latino/a venture capitalists in the broader venture capital ecosystem.
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SECTION 1

The Investors

Although the number of Latino/a VC investors grew by 36%, Latino/a investors remain only 2% of the industry. While the percentage has remained the same, we saw absolute numbers increase from 145 last year to 197 investment professionals this year. Given the small base, Latino/a investors remain 2% of the industry relative to 19% of the U.S. population.

The percentage of Latino/a investors who work at institutional firms rose.

Latino/a partners at institutional firms and emerging firms increased by 39% and 40% respectively. More than 80% of non-partner level Latino/a investors who joined the industry joined institutional firms. As a result, of all Latinos/as in the industry, the share of those at institutional firms increased from 41% to 54%

The Bay Area lost Latino/a investors while New York and Miami gained.

In 2021, the Bay Area had 50% of all Latino/a VCs, but in 2022, that dropped to 39%. The biggest increases have been on the East Coast. New York’s share of Latino/a VCs increased from 16% to 20%, driven by strong growth at institutional firms. Miami’s share rose from 7% to 10% (Miami was part of “other” in the 2021 report, and it is now separate for this report). For the share of institutional investors, New York went from 13% to 24% in 2022 and has surpassed the Bay Area in total Latino/a non-partner investors.
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SECTION 2

The Funds

Regional view of fund presence

The fund size raised by Latino/a emerging general partners (GPs) is increasing

From 2021 to 2022, there was nearly a 2x increase in the number of funds $26M-$50M and over a 2x increase in the number of funds above $75M. In the last 12 months, there has been a 3.6x increase in AUM by Latino/a GPs (AUM assumes that the funds raising achieve their targets). Larger fund sizes enable fund managers to access a wider range of capital sources.

3.6x
increase in AUM

SECTION 3

The Experience

Despite challenges, Latinos/as have blazed a trail for themselves in venture capital. Learn how you can help create a more diverse VC ecosystem.
“It's very much still an old boys club. Even when it's not an old white man, it's still very much about who you know; it is super frustrating. For both investing jobs that I've had, neither one was an open job posting; it was all talking to someone who knew someone who knew someone. And it's a privilege for me to be a part of these networks, But those networks aren't available to a lot of folks, especially to Latino/a folks, first-gen, people from low-income backgrounds, etc.”

- Participant 14
“I'm not even telling people who I am and what I’m about for career preservation concerns... you're kind of at a disadvantage. And, and in order to do it, if it's anyone you’re compromising, you're compromising your own persona, your own personality…”

- Participant 3
“Venture capital was designed for a very specific person, which at the time happened to be male, white, cisgender. So really, women weren’t taken into consideration, people of color weren’t taken into consideration, and immigrants weren’t taken into consideration..."

- Participant 16
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