Elevate Capital - Investor
Elevate Capital
Elevate Capital is Oregon’s first institutional venture capital fund that explicitly targets investments to support underserved minority and women entrepreneurs with early-stage funding During Black History Month, our commitment to advancing racial equality and economic opportunities for Black-founded startups is ever more critical
Not only during February but every day, we need to recognize the contributions, achievements, and influence Black entrepreneurs and leaders have in U S history We also celebrate and acknowledge the Elevate Capital team and its investors, who work tirelessly to make it all happen
In honor of Black History Month 2022, we are spotlighting 10 Black entrepreneurs who are part of the Elevate Capital portfolio Their achievements, passion, perseverance, and ability never to give up inspire us all We asked these inspiring founders, “What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced during the past two years, and how did you overcome them?”
“The greatest challenge I’ve faced during the past two years has been responding to institutional virtue signaling during a time of unprecedented social and environmental consciousness; executing a strategy that authentically aligns our company’s values, vision, solutions, and path to scale
The easier path (check-the-box DEI/ESG solutions) capitalizes on this moment to benefit a small few over a relatively short period of time The more challenging path (organizational re-architecture solutions) requires leveraging this moment to develop scalable solutions that will yield high returns and globally positive social impact ” About Blendoor: Blendoor is a blind recruiting app that uses augmented intelligence and people analytics to hire and manage a diverse workforce The app tracks how far different demographics of people make it through the hiring process to identify where bias is happening—either at the individual hiring manager level or through a specific system or process in the recruiting funnel Stephanie (Lampkin) VanPutten is Founder and CEO of Blendoor
“Transition is one of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered in the past two years—things rapidly change in a startup environment, and transition can be difficult to cope with I can’t say that I’ve overcome something as constant as change; however, I can say that I am standing toe-to-toe with it ” About Forest Devices: Forest Devices is a medical technology startup developing a novel stroke screening device to detect early signs of strokes The company’s diagnostic platform, AlphaStroke™, the first stroke and Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) detection device, is designed to support prehospital healthcare providers to triage patients directly to the right hospital Carmelo Montalvo is Co-Founder and COO of Forest Devices
“As a Black female founder of a fintech company, there are many challenges that come with successfully carving a space for yourself in this industry But I would say that by far, the most challenging was fundraising for our seed round In simple terms, this is a period where you are selling your idea to the world and that means encountering a lot of rejection along the way
I learned that I couldn’t spend my time trying to counteract the naysayers and convince the non-doers to get on board Rather, I spent it on those who truly believed in Goalsetter and who were willing to put me in rooms where opportunities abound So much of fundraising is about networks—you have to find your tribe ” About Goalsetter: Goalsetter is a savings and financial literacy app that provides FDIC and Mastercard-backed debit cards for teens and savings accounts for the whole family The debit card and savings app teaches kids and teens finance through games, memes, and pop culture Tanya Van Court is Founder and CEO of Goalsetter
“The biggest challenge over the last two years has been dealing with what has felt like constantly changing circumstances and unpredictability Those two constant factors have made it hard to plan and drive business My primary product category, makeup, was hit very hard by pandemic lockdowns, cancellation of special events, and mask mandates
Overcoming challenges has required a tremendous amount of patience, creativity, resilience, and adaptability It has been difficult, but we have learned a lot about ourselves and our capabilities We’ve had time to reflect on both where we are and the future we envision under a post-pandemic ‘new normal,’ we are driving the business towards that future ” About Hue Noir: Hue Noir’s mission is to change the face of beauty by putting women of color at the center of the beauty industry Paula Hayes, Founder and CEO, is a product chemist who blends color, science, and technology to design textures and shades that work for all women of color Hue Noir develops innovative makeup solutions for customers with nuanced skin tones ranging from fair to deep
“The past two years have been filled with unexpected events The first challenge was the COVID-19 pandemic, as New Orleans was among the first to have a peak incidence in the country We used that time to focus more of our efforts on marketing our products and services We strengthened our pipeline of channel partners (vendors), increased the visibility of our products, and worked on increasing accessibility for our customers
We were forced to have more of our operations virtually We learned there is an opportunity to connect with our customers through this mechanism and continue operations in this manner This has helped us identify areas to increase operational efficiency moving forward As a result, we have built relationships with some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies ” About Obatala Sciences: Obatala Sciences is a biotechnology company that is revolutionizing drug development within the fields of obesity, diabetes, and regenerative medicine The company provides research enabling products and brainpower to scientists in industry and academia to advance tissue engineering and regenerative medicine Dr Trivia Frazier is Founder and CEO of Obatala Sciences
“Over the past two years, the biggest challenge was finding the right team, community, support system, and access to resources to grow and scale Paerpay after pivoting the business to survive a global pandemic To overcome this obstacle, I participated in programs like Techstars, reached out to other minority founders who faced similar challenges crossing the chasm of scale, and transparently spoke about our wins and challenges with those around me as I was seeking wisdom ” About Paerpay: Paerpay enables merchants nationwide to accept contactless payments without altering their payments architecture: pay at the table, takeout, and digital menus No new hardware, changing processors, or downloading apps are required Paerpay can help recover walkouts from guests, even after the check is closed in the POS system Derek Canton is Founder and CEO of Paerpay
“We have always been very good at trusting our instincts about where the industry is moving and we saw FAST (Free Ad Supported Television) as the new frontier several years ago Our business roadmap focused on scaling this aspect of the business, all while in a pandemic and traditional methods of networking and growing partnerships weren’t an option We were able to lean into relationships that we’d been developing to help us successfully scale ” About Revry: Revry is the first global streaming network representing the breadth of the queer experience with live and on-demand LGBTQ+ movies, shows, news, music, podcasts, and original content Alia Daniels is Co-Founder and COO of Revry Alia is a socially conscious media entrepreneur and attorney who advocates for underrepresented communities in and out of the entertainment industry
“The past two years brought new challenges and dynamics for nearly everyone, as we all navigated our way through a global pandemic and all the changes that it brought With a globally distributed team, many of whom work remote, it was important to keep the culture intact and maintain momentum, despite nearly every aspect of engagement being virtual
The team doubled in size, which meant there were members, including leadership, who had not met each other and in some cases, had never been on the ground with customers or products My role as CEO and growth as a founder became more dynamic I needed to hire, fundraise, and keep the team excited with limited ability to have human interaction that I had historically relied on I leveraged communities with other founders and support from advisors, who were navigating similar dynamics
I had to be far more intentional about team building, meetings, and company events that would foster new levels of engagement And I ultimately re-established our company’s core values during this time, to better reflect the organization’s unique strengths and keep that at the forefront This ultimately brought out the best of the organization and I’m proud of the team we have today ” About SHYFT Power Solutions: SHYFT builds award-winning IoT technology that will transform how we use energy Their technology solutions focus on data-driven approaches and a connected platform to support intelligent energy management solutions for solar, storage, generators, and grid connections Ugwem Eneyo is Co-Founder and CEO of SHYFT Power Solutions
“Our biggest challenge the past two years has been a lack of investor network For example, understanding how to bring context gaps, finding investors who invested in companies within similar audiences or industries, and building relationships for warm intros Another challenge is hiring—leaning into employee referrals and building a company culture that is attractive to candidates ” About theCut: theCut is a mobile application designed to connect barbers and barbershops with customers The company’s platform lets users handpick talented barbers anywhere, anytime, enabling users to select barbershops according to their choice and budget Today, tens of thousands of barbers trust theCut with their business Obi Omile is Co-Founder and CEO of theCut
