Venture capital has a diversity problem . BLCK VC , a new organization founded by Storm Ventures associate Frederik Groce and NEA associate Sydney Sykes to connect, engage and advance black venture capitalists, is ready for a new era in the industry. Their mission: Turn 200 black investors into 400 black investors by 2024. “We think of ourselves as an organization formed by black VCs for blacks VCs to increase the representation of black investors,” Sykes told TechCrunch. “You can look around and say well ‘I know five black VCs,’ but you can also say this firm does not have a single black VC, they may not even have a single underrepresented minority … We want to make firms reckon with the fact that there is a racial diversity problem; there is a lack of black VCs and every firm should really care about it.” BLCK VC has been at work since the beginning of 2018, building and expanding a network of black investors in the San Francisco area, Los Angeles and New York. They seek to provide a...
In just about three weeks, on 29-30 November, literally thousands of startup fans will flock to Deutschland’s edgiest city to experience Disrupt Berlin 2018 — Europe’s premier tech conference focused on early-stage startups.
Attendees tell us time and again that networking and building relationships with the right people is one of the most essential and rewarding aspects of TechCrunch Disrupt. We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we decided to make networking at Disrupt Berlin a whole lot easier by offering CrunchMatch, our free business match-matching platform, to all registered attendees — not just investors and founders.
No matter who you want to meet in Berlin — tech service providers, product managers, developers, marketers or engineers, founders or investors — CrunchMatch will help you “Die Nadel im Heuhaufen suchen” or find the needle in the haystack. And here’s the best part. CrunchMatch, powered by Brella, makes the connections based on your specific criteria, goals and interests.
Here’s how it works. All registered Disrupt Berlin attendees will receive an email explaining how to access the platform and fill out a profile. Identify your role (developer, service provider, founder, etc.) and who you want to connect with at Disrupt. CrunchMatch works a little algorithmic magic to suggest matches and, if approved, sends meeting requests and proposes meeting times, which recipients can accept or decline.
CrunchMatch helps you make the most of your limited time at Disrupt. Caleb John, the CEO of Cedar Robotics, had this to say about his experience with the service at Disrupt San Francisco 2018. “CrunchMatch is a great way to pitch your ideas to investors quickly. Instead of approaching each one individually, just type up your pitch and send it to 50 people. Even if only 10 percent get back to you, you still have five investors. It’s one of the best benefits.”
The service also makes networking quick and efficient, according to Michael Kocan, a managing partner at Trend Discovery. “I used CrunchMatch to schedule more than 35 meetings with startups. It makes vetting deals extremely efficient.”
Disrupt Berlin 2018 takes place November 29-30, and it’s not too late to buy your ticket. Opportunity’s knocking, and now we’re making CrunchMatch available to help every attendee fling the door wide open.
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