Synchrony has committed to place $15 million in venture capital funds led by women, minorities and other underrepresented groups, as part of Synchrony Ventures’ broader initiative to drive diversity through investment.
The move aims to address major gaps in VC funding allocations, Synchrony said Thursday, noting that only 3% of investment funding goes toward female founders and 93% of investment firms have no Black partners.
Chicago-based fintech VC Chingona Ventures will be one of the first to benefit from Synchrony’s first round of inclusive funding, Sychrony said.
Chingona, founded in 2019 by Samara Mejia Hernandez, specializes in pre-seed and seed-stage companies working on technology in financial services, food and wellness. The San Francisco-based fintech Finix, along with the California-based Zero Grocery — which aims to eliminate plastic from food deliveries — are among ventures Chingona has funded.
Seae Ventures, a health care venture capital fund based in Boston, and Zeal Capital Partners, an “inclusive investing”-focused firm based in Wasingtonn, are the other two immediate recipients of Synchrony’s investments, Synchrony said.
“For far too long, Black, Latinx and female founders have been underrepresented in venture capital funding,” Trish Mosconi, executive vice president, chief strategy officer and corporate development at Synchrony, said in a press release.
