Venture Capital Firms Pushed to Take Historically Black Colleges as LPs

A group of Black venture capital managers is pressing Silicon Valley’s largest firms to commit to including historically Black colleges and universities among their limited partners, the institutions and individuals that provide capital to VC funds and reap the returns. 

Lo Toney, who spun out Plexo Capital from Alphabet’s investing arm GV, is leading the effort to get more VC firms to make room in their funds for historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. The initiative comes as venture firms face mounting pressure to use their weight to address racial injustice. 

At least one VC firm is already considering such changes. In an initiative started separately from Toney’s effort, Sequoia Capital will begin reaching out to HBCUs in the next few months to discuss becoming investors in future funds, according to a person familiar with the matter.