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GV Advisor Lo Toney Has Raised $35.1M For VC Fund Plexo Capital I

GV Advisor Lo Toney Has Raised $35.1M For VC Fund Plexo Capital I

Lo Toney
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 06: GV Partner Lo Toney onstage during Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 6, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch) *** Local Caption *** Lo Toney

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, 2019.

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 Alphabet, after he raised $50 million to invest in venture capitalists of color. Backers include Google Ventures, Intel Capital, Cisco Investments and the Royal Bank of Canada.

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.

Lo Toney
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 06: GV Partner Lo Toney (L) and Canvas Ventures Co-founder and general partner Rebecca Lynn speak onstage during Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 6, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch) *** Local Caption *** Lo Toney; Rebecca Lynn

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 underrepresented in the venture capital industry but bring a unique perspective to the table when it comes to identifying up-and-coming startups, Toney said at a recent Brandweek: Challenger Brand event in New York.

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.