Let’s talk Arizona venture capital.
A year ago, this would have been a very short conversation. Today, well, that’s another story.
If you haven’t been to one of our panels or seen the recent media coverage, you’ll hear it here first—AVC has officially launched. As Arizona’s newest institutional venture capital investor, we’re already making an impact on the state’s thriving startup community—and that’s after only 8 months.
Here’s the breakdown.
We’ve closed three direct deals and three LP fund investments with standouts: Schola, Polls Platform, DashXL, Pangaea Ventures, and AZ-VC. You can read about those below. We have four deals in the due diligence pipeline, and we’re looking at another five to seven fund investments.
To date, AVC’s investments have catalyzed over $230 million of new private capital in the state! Over half of our current investments are led by founders from our underrepresented community (URC).
Why is this so important?
First, that’s an incredible amount of deal flow and new capital for a state that has historically underperformed in venture capital. Second, it shows that we are on our way to realizing the three pillars of our mission: Promote equity capital for small and underserved businesses in Arizona; catalyze private investment; and fuel economic growth and good jobs.
That mission is what’s fueling our goals—pushing us forward to do more. To do better.
Here’s how I see it: AVC will help Arizona rise to be a Top 10 state in VC funding in the next five years, closing the gap with regional peers. But we're not stopping there.
AVC will work to make Arizona the most inclusive environment for VC investing.
Let’s face it: venture capital is an exclusive club. The percentage of women, minorities, and underserved founders that receive VC funding is less than 2%.
This is not acceptable and does not make sense from a business perspective. As Boston Consulting Group points out, increasing investments in Arizona’s underrepresented startups could boost Arizona’s GDP from $10 billion to $20 billion.
I know those statistics are pretty eye-opening. But that’s why this “Venture in AZ” monthly newsletter is here, and I hope it will become a go-to source for what’s happening in the Arizona startup and venture capital community. We have lots to discuss.
Let’s get to it …
Andy
PS: We want to hear from you! Please email us your thoughts, comments, opinions, and upcoming events you would like us to include.
