LEVEL UP VENTURES is a venture focusing on Black- and Latino-led businesses. Level Up Ventures’ early-stage investment strategy puts an increased focus on underrepresented founders and entrepreneurs.
Learn more about Level Up Ventures.
PEOPLE & PURPOSE
“The goal of Level Up is to close the wealth gap by investing in Black- and Latino-led startups. So that’s a very personal mission for me; that’s my lived experience.”
Katherine Rodriguez
Platform Manager
Level Up Ventures
LEVEL UP VENTURES
Data shows that Black and Latino founders are consistently overlooked when it comes to venture capital, receiving only about 3% of U.S. VC dollars collectively. Level Up’s focus on investing in Black- and Latino-led startups is a way of helping to level the field for extraordinary early-stage companies so they have the opportunity to grow their businesses, provide jobs within their communities, innovate industries and boost the U.S. economy. This is Level Up’s commitment to closing the wealth gap.
“The Level Up team had a great balance of making us feel comfortable working with them but at the same time challenging our ideas and pushing us to think of different strategic opportunities, from advisers to media exposure to accountants and legal advice. The Hearst network is so large that they have the ability to expand our reach and target a wider range of textile supply chain companies so that we can increase the pace at which we eliminate textile waste.”
Sortile is changing the landscape of textile recycling by developing AI-driven and data analytics solutions for textile waste.
Constanza Gomez and Augustina Mir
Founders
Sortile
“Level Up provides a very helpful network to address the main challenges and milestones we have as a company. We offer a machine-learning platform for R&D scientists in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Hearst helps us connect with these segments and understand their pain points and mindset better.”
Sunthetics is an easy-to-use machine-learning platform that is capable of leveraging small datasets to generate big insights.
Daniela Blanco
Founder
Sunthetics
Level Up Ventures is leveling the playing field for Black and Latino entrepreneurs.
SPOTLIGHT
Level Up Ventures Celebrate Black Summit Panel on Venture Capital
Three founders of Level Up portfolio companies (Dr. Tye Caldwell, cofounder and CEO of ShearShare; Morgan Hewett, cofounder and CEO of OptionsMD; Carmelle Cadet, founder and CEO of EMTECH) sat with Tiffany Blackstone, executive director at Oprah Daily, to discuss their journeys of fundraising and the valuable lessons learned along the way. The panel discussion was a part of the Hearst annual “Celebrate Black Summit,” a series of discussions designed to amplify the voices of Black change-makers, creators and entrepreneurs.
Level Up Scouts are core to Level Up’s success and a source of support for Lab company founders.
“It is a point of pride for me to work for Hearst and have this opportunity to be involved in such an important platform addressing the wealth gap, which has real positive impact for the economy and society. There are many more exciting ideas and capable entrepreneurs in the Black and brown community than are getting funded through legacy systems and structures. Level Up Ventures is an excellent vehicle to address the inequities in how capital flows to early-stage companies.”
Mike Simonton
Managing Director
Fitch Group