William "Bill" Burckhart | Source | Co-Founder at Colorful Capital
William "Bill" Burckhart
William Burckart is the CEO of TIIP (The Investment Integration Project) and has been at the forefront of ESG and impact investing for many years. With experience advising investment management firms, private foundations, non-profits, government and major financial services industry bodies, William has helped integrate impact and investment goals through the development and implementation of ESG and impact investment strategies across a range of regions and sectors.
William is the co-author of the book 21st Century Investing and has contributed to several seminal works in the field of impact finance. Learn more and connect with William on LinkedIn.
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Colorful Capital (https://www.colorful-capital.com/)
Co-Founder
started Mar 2022
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LGBTQ+ focused venture capital firm comes out for Pride month
Years ago, Megan Kashner had to come out twice to the CFO of the Chicago nonprofit where she worked at the time. He thought she was joking the first time. “The next day at lunch, he says, ‘That was really funny what you said yesterday. You had me going,’” Kashner recalls. “And everybody looks at him deadpan, like, “No, she really is a lesbian.”
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Colorful Capital aims to broaden LGBTQ+ founders' access to VC | Venture Capital Journal
A new venture fund takes an impact investing approach to address structural impediments LGBTQ+ founders confront in fundraising.
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“The research shows that investors can achieve outsized returns from diverse teams—whether it’s improved risk management, amplified IRR or increased valuation,” said Kashner. “We’re bringing that investment thesis to companies led by LGBTQ+ founders that have been routinely underestimated by mainstream capital providers. It’s an investment opportunity whose time has come.”
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“LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs are often kept outside the circles of connection and acceptance among VC funds, which are dominated by white cisgender males,” ... “These founders have faced unanswered calls and emails and find
it hard to raise money when no investor is willing to step up to lead a funding round.” -
"Colorful Capital, we're launching a $20million venture fund, really targeting investing in scaleable, early-stage, venture-backable, enterprise led by LGBTQ+ founders and leaders. The investment thesis focuses around the whole idea that these kind of founders that represent different segments of the community are routinely undervalued by the venture capital space. We're trying to say, 'hey look, there's these kinds of founders with typically less access to early-stage capital, that face all sorts of discrimination when raising capital, and this leads to this under-funding of viable businesses.' That's essentially what Colorful Capital is trying to do.
