In the past decade, just 0.24% of funding has made its way to Black founders in the UK. But within that statistic lies an enormous opportunity to invest in diverse founders to unlock their potential and the economic benefits that follow.
That is why Black Seed has today announced it has raised €5.8 million in its inaugural fund to invest in Black British founders. Established as a seed fund for Black entrepreneurs by Karl Lokko, Cyril Lutterodt and Yvonne Nagawa in 2021, the funding round was led by M&G’s Catalyst strategy with participation from Atomico, Local Globe, Molten Ventures and WestRiver Group – as well as a host of angel investors such as Sam Branson, Dorothy Chou, Bruce Molyneux and Lord Mervyn Davies.
In response to the announcement, M&G’s Head of Catalyst, Alex Seddon, noted the ‘substantial market opportunity’ to invest in untapped founders.
Black Seed started when Karl Lokko and Cyril Lutterodt realised through their own efforts that Black British founders are ‘over-mentored and underfunded’.
Black Seed is not just building a fund, it has built a community of Black founders and Black entrepreneurs with the ambition of nurturing Black talent for the benefit of the entire tech and investor ecosystem.The founders’ strategy, in partnership with leading investors, is to harness the energy and talent that exists, with a fund that goes over and above just raising capital.
Announcing the fund, Karl Lokko, Chairman and Co-Founder at Black Seed, says: ”Black Seed is a venture capital firm, created to finance the pioneering Black entrepreneurs of today to build the businesses our world needs for tomorrow – if only they’re given a shot. This is not the typical ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ story about an individual, this is a story about community and about ambition. A story about our community coming together to break down the barriers that we face as Black entrepreneurs, and to show to the world what we’ve all been missing out on.”
Cyril Lutterodt, Managing Director and Co-Founder at Black Seed, adds: “We know Black founders are over-mentored and underfunded. We know because we’ve lived it. We’re building a pipeline of Black entrepreneurs, primed and ready to deal with the big challenges facing the world. As we launch Black Seed, with the backing of our community, we know that this is a multi-generational ambition to unleash the potential of Black entrepreneurs and Black founders.”
Black Seed is already working with Black entrepreneurs including Gabriel Makinwa, founder and CEO of GigBridge, an online application connecting construction workers with construction jobs. Gabriel Makinwa was the winner of Black Seed’s ‘Lyan’s Den’ competition, which saw Black founders pitching for seed funding.
Announcing the fund, Yvonne Nagawa, Chief of Staff and Founding Member at Black Seed, says: “We are rooted in Brixton, but we have a global ambition. This fund is a big vote of confidence from some of Europe’s leading investors in our community and in our vision. They’re joining us to back the ambitious – and back them where it matters: with capital.”
Black Seed was founded in 2021, bringing together Black founders and entrepreneurs across the UK at community events, with partners including British-based deeptech research pioneer Google DeepMind. Bringing promising and aspiring Black entrepreneurial talent together into a supportive and nurturing community is at the core of Black Seed’s operating model. Partnering with VC platform Vauban enabled Black Seed to quickly raise capital alongside their community events. They also received support from partners including Hogan Lovells, Milltown Partners, and NatWest.
Alex Seddon, Head of Catalyst at M&G Investments, says: “We are energised by what Black Seed is bringing to the industry. There is a massive market opportunity to invest in underrepresented talent that has the potential to establish and grow exciting businesses that make a valuable contribution to our society and economy.”
Saul Klein, co-founder of Phoenix Court, home to LocalGlobe, Latitude, Solar and Basecamp funds, says: “We’re delighted to be supporting Black Seed with the first close of their inaugural fund. For too long, venture capital has remained a closed-off, exclusive club and that has had a negative impact on the types of products that get built. It’s not enough to try to right these wrongs with more money, new funds like Black Seed, as well as the entrepreneurs they will back, need to have access to best practices and networks too in order to build up and nurture Black talent. We’re excited for the potential of Black Seed and look forward to working closely with Karl, Cyril and Yvonne to empower an underrepresented generation of innovators.”
