Harlem Capital Community,

Please join us in welcoming our Winter Intern Class: Ayinde Castro, Joseph Bykov, Dawit Wondimagegn, Natalie Ho, Paola Correa, and Arjun Dundoo. They are joined by 1 returning fellow: Chelsea Hamlet (Fall 2024).

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 and Senior Associate, Ricardo Matias have come from this program.

As we enter our 8th year of running our intern program, we continue to be amazed by the talent that exists within the ecosystem. We have received over 18,8000 applications and hired 128 interns over 22 classes in an 8 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. 

ABOUT THIS COHORT

The 6 applicants were chosen from a pool of 1,685 applications.

This intern class has 2 undergraduate students and 4 MBA students. The current undergraduate & MBA students hail from Vanderbilt University, Wellesley College, Columbia Business School, Harvard Business School and NYU Stern School of Business. 

The class is 33% Asian, 33% Black, 17% Latino and 17% Caucasian. 83% are first generation American and 17% are first generation college students.

Additionally, 100% of this class applied more than once, which is the first time in 22 classes. In fact, 26% of the applicant pool was reapplicants from previous classes. Furthermore, at each stage of the Winter ‘25 interview process, more than 40% of the candidate pool was individuals who have reapplied to the program. 

We appreciate the determination and loyalty to HCP!

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF AN HCP INTERN

Many of the interns that have come through our platform have had zero VC experience prior to the internship. As a result, we want to ensure that every intern sees the full spectrum of what it means to be a VC. Here’s an overview of what a week in the life of an HCP intern looks like:

1. Weekly Team Calls –  Calls with the full HCP team and interns. Focused on new deals going through the pipeline, portfolio company updates, and upcoming firm priorities.

2. Syllabus & Weekly Pairing Calls – Each week you are assigned reading from the HCP Syllabus. Interns are also paired with a member of the HCP team (or other interns) every week to learn more about each other and ask any questions they have. 

3. Source Deals – Interns are encouraged to source. Sourcing deals often entails reaching out to founders, meeting them, and determining if the startup fits Harlem Capital’s criteria. 

4. Deal Calls & Portfolio Updates – Every intern is assigned new deals where they join intro founder calls with HCP team members and they also participate in portfolio company strategy calls. 

5. Deal Due Diligence  – Every intern conducts due diligence and creates memos to share with the broader team. Interns support by conducting a variety of analyses, including market sizing, competitive benchmarking, and exit scenario modeling.

6. Special Projects – Each intern has a special project to be done over the 10 weeks. These projects change every cohort based on the interests and needs of the firm but, overall, projects fall within three broad categories: platform & community support, VC ecosystem outlooks, and industry deep dives.

Interested to learn more? View the full blog post here!

We have now had 128 interns over 22 classes with 18,800+ applicants. Be sure to apply to be a part of our next cohort!

Our Summer 2025 application is now open until February 5th, APPLY or SHARE.   

Regards,

The Harlem Capital Team

About Harlem Capital Partners

Harlem Capital (HCP) is an early-stage, diversity-focused venture capital firm. HCP makes initial investments of $1mm to $2.5mm in U.S. seed rounds for 10-15% ownership.

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