Tech entrepreneur Jasmine Crowe recently put a venture capitalist on blast who she says told her they wouldn’t invest in her company right now because they’d already invested in a Black woman.
In a series of tweets, Crowe told followers of her early morning conference call with the VC, whom she would not call by name. She said after going over all the standard items like her company’s background, revenue, etc., she was shocked by what she heard next.
“And here’s what has me both sad and mad. After saying how great the company was he said and I quote verbatim. “We just invested in another black female founder last year, so I don’t think we’ll do another deal until later this year- when are you raising.” I was shocked,” Crowe tweeted.
Crowe said she then challenged the hypocrisy of the VC’s comments, given such a statement would never be made to a white male.
“What does that have to do with anything? “We just invested in another white make founder last year, so I don’t think we’ll so another deal until later this year – said no investor ever!” I asked him is that your fund’s thesis? Do you only invest in one black female per year?!” Crowe’s tweets continued.
The founder and CEO of Goodr – a social impact, tech-enabled food waste management company based in Atlanta, Georgia – Crowe said she’d refrain from naming the individual since the VC community is so small. She admitted, however, that the VC’s words angered her so much, her hands were shaking when she ended the call.
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She ended her series of tweets asking, “Why is it so hard to do good?” followed by a commitment to make her doubters regret a missed opportunity with her.
Her followers chimed in with support for her and outrage at the VC.
“I find that this is one of the more casual forms of cancel culture – the continued, institutional exclusion of brilliant women/poc for reasons that defy the logic of capitalism,” user Gerald Mason responded.
“What the entire hell?! So sorry you had to deal with this Jasmine. Unfortunately this sentiment is far too common across the industry!” replied fellow Black woman in tech, Megan Holston-Alexander.
Others urged her to release the VC’s name.
“It’s probably worth releasing the fund’s name so we don’t equitize this insane behavior. That’s really shi**y to hear, Jesus,” Live Candid Co-founder Bobby Ghoshal wrote.
Despite the unfortunate incident, Crowe didn’t let it stop her mission to combat hunger and food waste using tech. The next day she was smiling again.
“Sometimes I just sit in the Goodr office and smile. To see this place before we turned it from a hostel to a startup office. We really turned nothing into something,” Crowe tweeted Jan. 30 with a smiling emoji.
