The Weeknd, Pharrell, and Anderson .Paak, Among Others Invest In VC Fund To Help Close Racial Technology Gap

The US has had a racial tech gap problem for a long time.

83% of executives at Big Tech firms are white and out only 6% of the tech workforce at Apple last year was Black. What’s more 5.5% of Google’s new hires were Black.

That’s why Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF) was created by a16z was founded, and now some big names are backing it.

The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Anderson .Paak, Blake Griffin, Bubba Wallace and Pharrell among many other notable public figures have all invested in the fund. found early on that when it came to what was considered “cool” or

“The Cultural Leadership Fund was designed as an opportunity to contribute to two major shifts: more Black dollars on the cap tables of the world’s best companies AND Black talent embedded into technology companies at the earliest stages,” said Megan Holston-Alexander in a blog post. Holston-Alexander is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz where she leads the firm’s Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF). “I believe these shifts, if committed to in a systematic and sustainable way, can have a meaningful impact on building generational wealth for Black communities.”

According to a statement, the Fund is the first venture capital fund focused squarely on Black Limited Partners. CLF co-invests in a16z portfolio companies and helps those they invest expand their network and scale.

That network of investors includes Andrea and Charles Young, Angelique Brunner, Anré Williams, Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, Bubba Wallace, Clarence Nesbitt, DeAndre Ayton, Danny Green, Dez Bryant, DJ Augustin, Erin Teague, Kelvin Beachum, Kenneth Frank, Kyle Lowry, La Mar Taylor, Leonard Fournette, Lionel Richie, Maya Moore, MK, Nneka Ogwumike, Patrick Mahomes, Pharrell Williams, Pierre Aubameyang, Troy Millings, Rashad Bilal, Shellye Archambeau, Stacy Brown-Philpot, among others.

For more information about the CLF, visit a16z.com.