IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Slauson & Co
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Financial and Economic Inclusion
Microfinance and Low-income Financial ServicesFirm Overview
Slauson & Co. is a Los Angeles based venture capital firm focused on early stage technology investments. The firm is driven by its mission of economic inclusion and democratizing access to entrepreneurship for historically underrepresented founders. Founded in 2020, S&Co. is led by investors, Austin Clements and Ajay Relan and was born out of the idea that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not. Black and Latinx people account for 25% of the United States population, yet they receive less than 2% of venture capital dollars invested. S&Co. aims to change this by expanding the pool of companies being evaluated by intentionally including underrepresented founders. S&Co. is backed by industry titans, including Ron Conway, Jeff Wilke, will.i.am, Ashton Kutcher, and PayPal. To date, Slauson & Co. has invested $24M in 26 portfolio companies, the majority of which were founded by people of color.
Years of Operation: Less than 3 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Slauson & Co.'s invests in SMB tech and culturally relevant consumer tech and products in order to generate returns and achieve its mission of economic inclusion.
At Slauson & Co., we believe that investing intentionally with a focus on inclusivity and representation allows us to have a much larger pool of founders to choose from, most of whom are historically overlooked by venture capitalists. Our founders have the lived experiences that are their competitive advantage to build category-defining companies in SMB tech and culturally relevant consumer tech and products that forward our mission of economic inclusion. SMB tech creates tools and businesses that support the next generation of small business owners. We believe SMB tech has the potential to transform the economic landscape in this country, yet it remains a drastically underfunded category. Culturally relevant consumer tech and products create scalable companies that authentically serve specific customers. The founders behind these companies utilize their lived experiences to create brands that in many cases build community or solve a problem for a historically underserved population.
Slauson & Co is aiming to change the venture capital industry by investing with intention. Our belief is that a focus on inclusion is what leads to outperformance, and we embrace this belief in everything we do, namely by: - Investing in untapped founders whose unique lived experience is exactly what allows them to shine and create businesses that are innovative and authentic. - Focusing on the founder first and their wellness by creating community amongst our founders, and emphasizing the importance of mental health by offering monthly funding for relevant services. - Living our mission internally by having equitable and intentional hiring practices and vendor selection processes. - Supporting companies outside of our traditional fund through our accelerator program, Friends & Family. Launched in 2021, F&F has supported 20 companies with $20K in non-dilutive grants, educational resources, and mentorship.
Investment Example
Bags helps digital-native small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) get access to the appropriate financing options to help them grow through their capital matchmaking platform called the Bags Directory. Currently, new SMBs are not adequately funded by traditional financers. While they need funding to meet demand and grow, they lack the traditional business metrics or assets to get a bank loan and are not venture-backable. Competitors in this space are targeting SMBs with more revenue and growth, with a lack of personalization around diversity, education, and financing options. The target customer for Bags is a BIPOC, woman, and/or an LGBTQ+ founder in the US and LATAM building a digitally native SMB with 3 to 6 months of revenue. Slauson & Co. invested in AMP's seed round in May 2022.
Leadership and Team
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Austin Clements – Managing Partner More Info
Austin is a former Principal at TenOneTen Ventures. He is a founding Chairman for PledgeLA, a city-wide initiative that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in Tech. Austin is a graduate of Morehouse college, holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, and is currently a Kauffman Fellow. |
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Ajay Relan – Managing Partner More Info
Ajay is a former founding Partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners. He also built Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, a staple in diverse neighborhoods across Los Angeles. Ajay is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and currently serves on the Los Angeles City Planning Commission. |
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Brittany Crockett – Head of Platform More Info
Brittany Crockett has a passion for advocacy, entrepreneurship, and storytelling. Prior to Slauson & Co. she was the Director of Partner Development and Licensing at 4thMVMT, a Los Angeles social equity startup. There she helped clear a path for aspiring entrepreneurs in the recently-legalized cannabis industry, who came from communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs in both Los Angeles and Chicago. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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One of five key considerations in our due diligence process is a company's alignment with our mission of economic inclusion. Our team assess whether a company and founder are benefitting often overlooked and underrepresented end consumers, such as people of color or SMBs, and if the founder has the competitive advantage of their lived experience to uniquely and effectively lead a company that serves those demographics.
One of five key considerations in our due diligence process is the founder's alignment with our mission of economic inclusion. We believe that by investing in unrepresented founders, they will thoughtfully build their teams based on their unique lived experience and to reflect their end consumer. As a result, we strongly believe this will lead to more diverse management teams. We are actively collecting demographic data on our portfolio's management teams.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
4437A Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90043 USA
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