Last week, the Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund launched a new website to help minority entrepreneurs with early stage technology companies learn about opportunities for investment from our company. The goal is to connect diverse founders to serious capital and help them leverage the Comcast NBCUniversal network to scale their ventures.
Less than one percent of venture capital goes to underrepresented minority-founded startups each year. But we know innovation is colorblind -- which is why the Catalyst Fund seeks out minority entrepreneurs with big ideas that have the potential to disrupt categories and create new ones.
Our web presence is multipurpose. First, we want to make it clear that we are actively making investments, which you can see in the portfolio section. We have invested in fantastic companies led by incredible entrepreneurs and we think you’ll feel the same as you learn more about each of them.
Second, we felt it was important to better define what we’re looking for in a potential investment. On the site you will see that we are building one of the most diverse portfolios in the venture business and doing so with an eye towards creating significant value along the way.
We built the site with the expectation of building community among our supporters and visitors such that it becomes a valuable source of information that can be leveraged in building a better and more diverse entrepreneurial community.
Ultimately, we hope to create the most diverse and valuable early stage portfolio the venture industry has ever seen. Since our inception in 2011, we’ve made some exciting investments — and we’re really just getting started. Created by Comcast Ventures, the $20 million Catalyst Fund believes there is tremendous untapped value in the minority technology start-up space. The site has a direct feed to our Twitter account so it becomes a great destination for everything we’re involved in, where we’re going, and what’s happening with the Catalyst Fund and our portfolio companies.
We encourage you to play around with the site, follow us on Twitter (@cvcatalyst) and spread the word!