附近上门

Last year, U.S. companies raised record amounts of venture capital, at just under $150 billion. But of that capital, only $1 billion went to Black or African-American startup founders, which comes out to less than 1 percent of total funding, per 附近上门 data.

Subscribe to the 附近上门 Daily

Despite this low proportion, there were some early-stage companies that raised significant amounts in 2020 that were founded and led by Black entrepreneurs. For this feature, we looked at larger Series A and Series B rounds last year that went to Black startup founders. Here are some of the companies we think are worth highlighting during Black History Month.听

CloudTrucks

Bay Area-based , a virtual trucking application for independent truck drivers, raised a $20.5 million Series A in December led by with participation from existing investors , , , , 听补苍诲 .听

鈥淚n the past six months since we launched the CloudTrucks app, we have completed over 1,000 long-haul deliveries, grown 40 percent month over month, and completed over $1.8 million in freight transactions,鈥� said co-founder and CEO on announcement of the company鈥檚 funding.听

Vericool

, a manufacturer of environmentally friendly cold chain packaging, raised $19.1 million Series A funding from , the , and . The company, based in Livermore, California, aims to reduce the use of unsustainable packaging such as polystyrene with its products that use recycled paper fibers and plant-based materials. Founder and CEO , who dropped out of school in 8th grade and joined a gang, was able to turn his life around in his 20s. His company is committed to a diverse workforce and giving people a second chance in order to reduce prison recidivism.

Forethought

San Francisco-based builds AI agents, starting with Agatha, for customer support. The company raised a $17 million Series B round led by with participation from , , 听补苍诲 along with angels , , and CEO . Co-founder and CEO confirmed that Agatha is their first product. Currently the service answers half a million questions on an annual basis.听

Carbice

Atlanta-based . raised the first close of its Series A round at $15 million in November. Carbice is building a product that reduces and dissipates heat from product packaging for electronic devices. Its Carbice Carbon product is used in satellites as well as regular devices. led the round with participation from . The company is founded and led by , a professor turned entrepreneur from 鈥檚 Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology.听

Bambee

Los Angeles-based , an HR platform for small and medium-sized businesses, raised a $15 million Series B led by along with participation from and . Since most small businesses cannot afford to hire a dedicated HR manager, for $99 per month Bambee helps them keep up with complex laws.

鈥淲e deeply understand the pain that small businesses face as a result of tedious and complex HR rules and regulations,鈥� said founder and CEO , a serial entrepreneur and previously the CMO at .

鈥淓very business in America, regardless of size, should have a dedicated HR resource to reach out to for HR support and guidance,鈥� he said.

54gene

is a genetic testing platform focused on the African genome, which is often not tracked comprehensively by leading genomics companies. The company has offices in both Washington, D.C., in the U.S., and Nigeria. 54gene, named for the 54 countries in Africa, raised a $15 million Series A in 2020 led by with participation from , , , , and . The company’s mission is 鈥渢o improve personalized medicine for Africans and people of African origin, and furthermore, to advance the quality of healthcare worldwide,鈥� said , co-founder and CEO of 54gene.听

Wise Systems

Cambridge-based , a fleet management software company raised a $15 million Series B in 2020 led by with participation from , and .

鈥淭here鈥檚 an increasing need for dynamic solutions that rapidly adapt to demand volatility and enable customers to simultaneously maximize fleet efficiency and improve customer experience,鈥� said , Wise Systems co-founder and CEO.听

CareAcademy

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based provides ongoing online training programs for home health care workers, in an effort to allow the aged population to stay in their homes. The company raised a $9.5 million Series A in 2020 led by with participation from , , , , , and .

鈥淲e started CareAcademy in 2016 with a simple idea: To empower caregivers to learn how to deliver the best care to older adults with the support, guidance and compassion needed to improve their quality of life,鈥� said , co-founder and CEO.

Last but not least, a new unicorn

Notable not for it鈥檚 early-stage funding, but rather it鈥檚 rise to the unicorn board, is Atlanta-based which was one of 23 U.S.-based companies to join those ranks in January 2021.

Calendly is also the fourth U.S. company with a Black founder to be valued above $1 billion. CEO and founder bootstrapped the company, raising seed funding in 2014 from .

Since then, the company has not raised funding until this year when it raised $350 million (part equity and part secondary financing) at a valuation of $3 billion. The round was led by , an expansion stage venture firm based in Boston, with participation from .

Editor’s note: Deep disparities in venture funding exist not only for minority entrepreneurs, but for women in the startup community as well, which is perhaps why the bulk of the Series A and Series B rounds featured in this article went to male entrepreneurs. Issues around lack of diversity and disparities in access to capital are ones we’ll continue to cover at 附近上门 News, and we invite readers to share their views on the issue with us. You can find contact information for our staff here.

Pro tip: 附近上门 Pro allows users to easily query the dataset. See the list of based in the U.S. who have raised funding since 2019. If your company is missing from this list please reach out to feedback at crunchbase.com or gene at crunchbase.com to add your company profile.

Illustration: