![]() ![]() In fact, only around 3% of venture capitalists are Black and 81% of VC firms don’t have a single Black investor. Unfortunately, there has been a dearth of Black VC investment in startups like Bevy. ![]() And I think we can be the model for the nation,” Lowery said. “I know for a fact because of my friendship and my network that there are a lot of people, if they had the opportunity to invest in opportunities like this, they will do it, and they have the money to do it. One of those investors, James Lowery, who is a management consultant and entrepreneur, and was the first Black employee hired at McKinsey in 1968, sees the opportunity for this approach to be a model to attract investment from other under-represented groups. ![]() The round was led by Accel with participation from Upfront Ventures, Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith and LinkedIn, but what makes this investment remarkable is that it included 25 Black investors representing 20% of the investment. And Bevy, a company whose product powers community sites like Salesforce Trailblazers and Google Developers announced it has raised a $40 million Series C this morning, at least partly due to the growth related to that dynamic. The event software company is also managing to grow and raise significant sums of money while focusing on diversity within its ranks.You might expect that a startup that makes community building software would be thriving during a pandemic when it’s so difficult for us to be together. Final Takeawaysīevy is now valued at four times the amount the company was worth when it last raised money in May 2019. The event software business has a goal of having Black employees make up 20% of its workforce by September. Having 0% of its workforce comprised of Black employees a year ago, Anderson, now the CEO of Bevy, said the number has since gone up to 14%. This is particularly meaningful for Bevy as it is seeking to boost diversity within its own workforce, meaning Black workers can also benefit from the success of the company. As stated by Axios, Bevy is “the latest to diversify who gets to share in the upside of a startup - typically it’s white men, while others have historically been shut out of deals.” Furthermore, 70% of the individuals who participated in the funding round are Black. The event software startup said that 20% of the $40 million of capital raised came from Black investors. However, what’s most notable about the Series C round of this company is the level of diversity. The investors included Accel, LinkedIn, PayPal’s Peggy Alford, retired Olympian Michael Johnson, and former Beats by Dre executive Omar Johnson. A total of 41 different investors participated in the Series C round. The round closed this month attracted a significantly larger crowd of investors - and was also Bevy’s biggest round to date, valuing the startup at $325 million. California-based venture capital firm Accel led that round. The company then pulled in another $15 million to advance its business - this time from three investors - in May of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In its first funding round, a Series A in 2018, Bevy raised $6.4 million from five different investors, led by Upfront Ventures. Including this most recent round, the startup has raised at least $61.4 million for its business over the past four years. The virtual conferences and events company now works with numerous big-name businesses, including Google, GoPro, Epic Games, eBay, Twitch, Slack, and Salesforce. The event software company has continued to grow ever since, pulling in millions in fundraising and acquiring CMX, a business that provides a community for professionals, in 2019. However, the potential of the technology was quickly realized, and the startup was founded soon after. ![]() The flagship technology of the company - a software that allows companies to plan virtual conferences and events within their own platform - was originally just a tool of Andersen’s previous business, Startup Grind. What Is Bevy?īevy was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Alex Bendig, Derek Andersen, and Joel Fernandes. However, it’s not just the cash injection this company is excited about regarding its Series C, as Bevy reported a uniquely diverse round with 20% of the capital coming from Black investors. The California-based startup, which sells event software, managed to seize momentum from the COVID-19 pandemic, with this recently closed round, a reflection of the positive movement. Bevy has raised $40 million in a Series C funding round. ![]()
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