Port Covington’s Conscious Venture Partners Raises $15.8 Million

Port Covington-based business accelerator Conscious Venture Partners announced yesterday that it raised $15.8 million for its Conscious Venture Fund II. Conscious Venture Partners is hoping to raise a total of $50 million for the fund.

Conscious Venture Partners “seeks out minority and women founders to invest in entrepreneurs that others are ignoring for all the wrong reasons.” They “support companies that are using technology to break down barriers to access and create a more equitable society, including in the healthcare, food, technology, media, mobility, and education industries.”

The $15.8 million raised includes $2.5 million from Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Ventures, as well as additional investments from Steve Bisciotti’s Point Field Partners, Capital Funding Group, Robb Merritt, Mary Miller, and Guy Filippelli. Outside of these local investors, Conscious Venture Partner received a $5-million commitment from the UFCW – Northern California Employers Joint Pension Plan, a Concord, California-based pension fund.

The funds raised by Conscious Venture Partners support businesses like Fearless Sports, “a Baltimore-based social impact clothing company founded by Baltimore Business Journal Power 10 winner, Delali Dzirasa;” Outlook Enterprises, “the first ever digital production studio to be located in East Baltimore,” founded by ex-Baltimore Raven Trevor Pryce; and HeyZRO, a unique metaverse e-commerce platform which is one of “the first to be founded in Baltimore by a Black-woman technologist.”

Conscious Venture Partners is based out of the Impact Village office building at 250 W. Dickman St. in Port Covington.

“Despite the amazing talent and technology we have in the US and specifically here in Baltimore, new innovations for things like the delivery of preventative care, better mental health outcomes, access to technology and healthy food and predictive analytics for under-served communities are clearly needed if we are to continue the standard of living – and give all our citizens access to such – that we so dearly appreciate and enjoy in America,” said Jeff Cherry, founder and managing partner of Conscious Venture Partners, in a press release. “COVID has shown us how much work we have to do to create a more equitable society and economic system.”

“Jeff Cherry and Conscious Venture Partners share our commitment to creating a positive impact in Port Covington- and all of Baltimore,” said Plank in a press release. “The Conscious Venture Partners team has a proven track record of identifying and supporting diverse and innovative Baltimore entrepreneurs, which is critical to the future of the city.”

“Mr. Bisciotti certainly believes that equity and prosperity go hand-in-hand. This is one of the reasons we were so excited to invest and partner with Jeff and his team at Conscious Venture Partners,” said Ryland Sumner of Point Field Partners in a press release. “It’s all about their mission and innovative approach to community investment, This is the way you build communities: investing through a lens of equity to create financial as well as societal returns.”

“We believe that Conscious Venture Partner’s approach to entrepreneurship is forward-thinking and fantastic for our community,” said Mike Hankin, CEO of Brown Advisory, in a press release. “We are proud to partner with Jeff and his great team and hope that, together, we can help support emerging businesses in Baltimore, as well as the broader start-up ecosystem.”

Miller, who is a Baltimore investor and former T. Rowe Price executive, added: “This is the kind of ground-up investment opportunity Baltimore needs. I’m excited to see the impact these entrepreneurs will have in their communities.”

Impact Village

Jeff Cherry Picture courtesy of Conscious Venture Partners