Lo Toney, an advisor at Google Ventures and former investing partner there, has raised $35.1 million for his venture-capital fund, Plexo Capital, which was formed inside GV.
Plexo Capital raised the $35.1M in a single venture fund, Plexo Capital I. This fund was announced on March 12,
Plexo Capital is an offshoot of Google Ventures and specializes in backing seed funds led by people of color and women. Plexo acts as a limited partner and invests directly in some of its portfolio companies.
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In March 2018, Toney said he intended to leave GV, the venture capital arm of
Toney raised the $35.1 million for Plexo Capital I, according to an amendment to an SEC filing, dated March 8, 2019, PR Hub reported.
The fund attracted capital from 18 investors and has a target of $50 million. You can read the filing here.
Plexo Capital has one team member — founding managing partner Toney.
Plexo Capital has made two investments. The most recent was on Nov 19, 2018, when it invested $30.5M in PlayVS. On July 20, 2018, Plexo Capital invested $6.5 million in Blavity.
Delane Parnell‘s esports startup PlayVS is building the online and offline infrastructure for high school esports. Investors include Sean “Diddy” Combs, Adidas and Samsung. The new round came five months after PlayVS’s $15.5 million Series A funding, for a total of $46 million raised.
The driving force behind Plexo is that minority and women investors are
Toney singled out the recent sale of Walker & Company Brands, the parent of the Bevel shaving brand for men of color, and Form Beauty, a woman of color-focused hair care brand, as examples.