For the most part, tech is a male-dominated industry. From company executives to staff, employees are more likely to identify as male than any other gender. For VC firms, the same is true. According to 2021 data from Chicago:Blend and the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, 66.15 percent of roles at VC firms are held by men while women make up 33.85 percent of these roles in Chicago.
Chingona Ventures, a woman-founded Chicago-based VC group, is actively breaking the mold of traditional VC firms and recently raised a new fund to invest in women and minority-founded startups. The VC firm, founded in 2019 by Samara Hernandez, gets its name from the Spanish slang term “chingona,” which translates to a woman who is fearless and intelligent, according to the company’s website.
The firm announced Monday that it raised a venture fund totaling $52 million. Some of the partners that contributed to the fund include PayPal Ventures, Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures and the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer’s Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, among others. Prior the fund, Chingona Ventures had raised an inaugural fund of $6 million,, according to TechCrunch.
According to its website, Chingona Ventures invests mainly in pre-seed startups and invests between $250,000 to $1 million in initial funding. In addition to focusing on women and minority-founded companies, the firm also focuses on fintech, food and wellness startups.
Following its latest fund, Chingona Ventures is plans to write larger checks and make more deals with pre-seed stage startups, Hernandez, Chingona Ventures’ general partners, told Built In via email.
In its three-year run, Chingona Ventures has invested in a handful of startups including Leaf Trade, which recently secured new funding. It has also invested in Web3 startups such as EarlyBird, which provides crypto investing opportunities for kids.
While Chicago is not known for its VC firms, several new initiatives have been launched from local VC firms in attempt to diversity not only tech but also the VC workforce. Earlier this year, Chicago:Blend launched a mentorship and training program for aspiring venture capitalists from underrepresented communities. The program will provide candidates with pathways to capital and would mentor them to find investment opportunities.
The Windy City also leads the country in seed funding for Black and Latino founders, according to an analysis by Chicago Inno. According to the publication, 13.1 percent of all angel or seed investments in Chicago went to Black or Latino founders last year.
