See the 119 Black, Latino & Women founders who raised $1M+ for their Web3 companies from 2015-2021

By Nicole DeTommaso (Senior Associate) with help from Brandon Bryant (Partner) & Emily Herrera (Winter Intern 2022)

One of our core values at Harlem Capital is Data Drives Decisions. Since 2018, we have been publishing various different reports focused on the state of diversity within VC & tech. With the emergence of Web3, we want to ensure that our diverse counterparts are being recognized & highlighted within this new & important industry. 

The Black, Latino & Women Founders in Web3 report analyzes the 119 Black, Latino & Women Startups that have raised $1M+ in Web3 from 2015 to 2021. You can find the full report here:

At Harlem Capital, we are proud investors in 4 of the 119 companies listed in this report – Glow Labs, Primitives, Mueshi, and Atomize. The 4 companies have raised a total of $12.7M in funding. We’re excited to celebrate their success as they pioneer pathways for many others. 

Methodology

Our data comes from Harlem Capital’s proprietary database alongside databases from Crunchbase & Pitchbook. This report only includes publicly available information and therefore excludes undisclosed funding rounds.

For the scope of this report, we include U.S.-based businesses that have raised $1M+ within the Blockchain and/or Cryptocurrency industries (Web3).

Who Are The Founders By Gender and Race?

Out of the 119 companies, 57% have White women founders, followed by Latino & Black men founders at 22% & 19%, respectively.  However, in terms of capital raised, Asian & Latino women have a higher median raise of $18M & $26M, respectively.

What Sub-industries Are They In?

There are 17 sub-industries represented, with the majority of companies falling within FinTech. The median raised within FinTech is also larger than most other sectors, excluding AR/VR.

In terms of sub-industries by race, the largest amount of capital raised by Latino founders is in the FinTech sector, while the largest amount of capital raised by Black founders is in the Big Data & Cloud sector. In terms of sub-industries by gender, both men and women founders have raised the largest amount of capital within the FinTech sector.

Where Are The Companies Headquartered?

There are 20 states represented, with the majority of companies being headquartered in California (45%) & New York (15%). In terms of capital raised, the top states are California, Georgia & New Jersey.

What Stages Are The Companies At?

The majority of companies are still in early stages with 67% having their latest funding round between Pre-seed & Series A. The largest amount of capital raised has been in the Series D, making up 33% of total capital raised.

Conclusion:

We’re proud to highlight the 119 trailblazers who have raised $1M+ in this new & exciting industry. Check out the full report and dataset.

Though there’s plenty to celebrate, we recognize that Black, Latino & Women founders still make up a very small percentage of the overall funding that went into Web3 over the years. We hope that this report encourages more Black, Latino & Women founders to build in Web3 and pushes more investors to bet on these diverse founders. We’re excited to continue mapping the journeys of these incredible founders.

If you know of other U.S.-based Black, Latino, or Women founders who have raised $1M+ in Web3 that we missed, please submit them here so we can continue to keep this list updated. To stay up to date on Harlem Capital news, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.