Friday Letter

With Gary Gensler approved as the next SEC chairman, it's likely the venture community and other private funds will soon hear more talk about regulating SPACs, private fund secrecy and diversity investing.

The firm has raised $110m for its inaugural seed-stage fund to invest in visionary founders who are leveraging shifts in culture and behavior. And LPs are on board with the oversubscribed fund.

The SEC held a virtual coffee break this week to discuss diversity. Three from the venture community participated in the discussion.

The venture world may have a number of top-performing VCs who are women and multiple firms led by women, but female VCs face their own unique struggles, too. The Women of Influence list will recognize the top performers who happen to be women.

One year into the pandemic, OMERS Ventures releases its survey findings of how covid-19 has impacted their attitudes to investing. Suffice it to say that virtual meetings are likely to remain.

As it raises a $100m to back companies that include women in founding or executive roles, fund managing director Sharon Vosmek says 'Venture investors need to hold each other accountable for having more women in business.'

One year into the pandemic, GPs and LPs alike are looking ahead to a way of working that combines the best of what they learned about virtual working, coupled with an in-person touch.

D&I is a common talking point. A recent study by researchers at UC Berkeley aims to shed more light on the impact of gender and age when it comes to the performance of VC-backed start-ups.

The lines have blurred between work and home amid the pandemic. Laurie Tennant, the human resources leader at Norwest Venture Partners, discusses how the firm has managed through it all in the past year.

More firms are talking about diversity in venture, whether it's hiring diverse talent or investing in diverse companies. Should the venture community adopt more initiatives to address the inequities?