S6 E. 11 Mind the Gap: How Arian Simone is Closing the Funding Gap For Women of Color

Presented by Mastercard

Fact: Businesses with Women of Color and Black female CEOs get less than 1% of all VC funding every year. And when you consider that $85 Billion of VC funding was raised in 2017, the glaring inequality becomes very clear. However, Arian Simone is breaking the VC ceiling, stacking the odds back in her favor, and putting the dollars into the businesses who need it most with the Fearless Fund, a $5 million fund that invests exclusively in early-stage businesses run by women of color. The serial entrepreneur knows a thing or two about hard work, too. After being laid off from her job after graduating college, Arian went from living in her apartment to out of her car for almost a year. She eventually went on to build a successful PR and marketing firm from the ground up where she promoted Blockbuster films such as 007: Quantum Solace and worked with major companies from Sony Pictures, to Walt Disney Pictures.  In this week's episode, Jaclyn chats with the fearless entrepreneur on how she built multiple companies from scratch, how she’s tackling inequality in the VC world, and how Women of Color can get access to capital.  Join the party on social @workparty and stay in-the-know at workparty.com.

Guest

Arian Simone, @ariansimone @fearless.fund

Produced by Dear Media