Harlem Capital Community,

Please join us in welcoming our Winter Intern Class: Austin Cai, Rhea Bhammer, Nikolas Ortega, Savannah Green, Megan McHugh and Jon Diakanwa. They are joined by 2 returning fellows: Sophia Escagedo (Fall 2023) & Semra Ezedin (Fall 2023).

ABOUT THE INTERN PROGRAM

Harlem Capital’s internship is a 10-week program that occurs 3 times per year, with winter, summer and fall cohorts. Each cohort consists of 6 interns and 1-2 fellows (returning interns). Interns are tasked with weekly deal screens, industry analyses, and key value-add projects over the course of the internship. Our interns are what we like to call our ‘secret sauce’ as they allow us to accomplish projects outside of regular deal work that expand the diverse ecosystem. Notably, our Partner, Gabby Cazeau and Principal, Nicole DeTommaso have come from this program.

2024 MARKS OUR 7TH YEAR OF THE INTERN PROGRAM

As we enter our 7th year of running our intern program, we continue to be amazed by the talent that exists within the ecosystem. We have received over 13,500 applications and hired 111 interns over 19 classes in a 7-year period. 35+ of those interns now work in VC or PE, which is one of HCP’s proudest stats as we’ve become one of the largest diverse funnels into VC. Check out our 2022 Diverse VC Report to see a more comprehensive view of the 300+ Black & Latino VC investors within the industry.

ABOUT THIS COHORT

The 6 applicants were chosen from a pool of 1,117 applications, marking a 0.5% acceptance rate.

This intern class has 2 undergraduate students, 2 MBA students and 2 full-time employees.  The current undergraduate & MBA students hail from Cornell University, UCLA, The Wharton School and Yale School of Management. The class is 33% Black, 33%  Asian, 17% Latino and 17% White. 33% are first generation college students and 67% first generation American.

Additionally, 33% of this class applied more than once,with 1 applying three times. In fact, 25% of the applicant pool was reapplicants from previous classes. Furthermore, at each stage of the Winter ‘24 interview process, more than 30% of the candidate pool was individuals who have reapplied to the program. We appreciate the determination and loyalty to HCP.

A DIVE INTO THE WINTER ‘24 APPLICANT POOL

Let’s take a look at the demographics of the Winter ‘24 applicant pool. Alongside race & gender data, we also started tracking some other important diversity data stats in our application (optional for candidates).

The Winter ‘24 applicant pool was 36% Asian, 27% Black and 11% Latino as well as 35% first generation American and 35% first generation college students.

The applicant pool was 39% women or non-binary individuals and 14% identified as LGBTQ+.

Harlem Capital takes a lot of pride in having a diverse applicant pool not only for race and gender, but also amongst other areas of identity and life. We continue to prove to the ecosystem that there is no pipeline problem.

INTERN RESOURCES MADE PUBLIC

Our number one goal for our interns is to learn as much as they can about the VC space over the 10 weeks they are with us. To do this, we provide interns with hands-on work as well as provide resources on all areas of the VC ecosystem. As a result, we have the interns read through our curated syllabus – The Harlem Capital Syllabus: A Primer on Venture Capital. We have made this public because we think it is important for demystifying VC for those looking to break in and for founders looking for funding beyond our HCP network.

CONCLUSION

We have now had 111 interns over 19 classes with 13,908 applicants, equating to an overall 0.8% acceptance rate. Given we can’t provide opportunities to the majority that apply, we are offering access to our HCP talent platform to all applicants that receive a first round interview. If you are a VC firm looking to get access to top diverse talent, please join our Talent Collective.

Joining this invite-only community will give you access to:

• Top diverse talent profiles that include past experience & what they are looking for next
• Pre-vetted candidates who have interviewed for the HCP internship
• Request convos from desired candidates directly to fill open roles

Our Summer 2024 application is now open until February 6th, APPLY or SHARE.   

Regards,

The Harlem Capital Team