Investment thesis
Harlem Capital is a New York-based early-stage venture capital firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years. Founded in 2015, the firm writes early-stage cheques into post-revenue, tech-enabled startups, with a deliberate focus on companies led by women and founders of colour. The firm was founded by managing partners Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, alongside co-founders John Henry and Brandon Bryant.
Sectors and stages
The firm invests at the seed stage across a broad set of sectors, favouring technology-enabled businesses that already show early commercial traction. Its 70+ investments span more than 10 cities, according to the firm's website, reflecting a geographic reach well beyond its Harlem roots. The portfolio skews towards founders the mainstream venture market has historically overlooked.
Fund size
Harlem Capital closed its Fund II in March 2021 at $134 million — oversubscribed against a $100 million target and its initial $125 million cap, according to TechCrunch. Corporate backers include Apple, which committed $10 million over 20 years and an internship programme developed alongside the firm. The firm's inaugural fund backed names such as Aunt Flow, Blavity and Paladin.
Notable portfolio companies
From Fund II, Harlem Capital has led rounds such as Pariti, the Kenya-based startup-ecosystem platform that raised a $2.85 million seed round, and backed insurtech Lami's $3.7 million raise. Other investments include Compt (Series A), Portabl, Poolit, Gander, DripShop, Glow Labs, Trustible and Lava.
Key partners
The investment team, described by the firm as 5 dedicated investors, is led by managing partners Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, with Brandon Bryant and Gabby Cazeau among the partners. The partners have been widely profiled as a rare example of a majority Black-owned fund operating at institutional scale in US venture capital.
Programmes and partnerships
Harlem Capital does not run an accelerator of its own, and it has no public cloud-credits or perks programme. What it does run is a talent pipeline: it launched a talent partnership with KKR to recruit diverse candidates into investment-management roles, and it has partnered with Techstars to refer diverse founders into the accelerator network and fast-track their applications. The firm also publishes a regular Diverse Founder Report tracking funding to Black and Latino startups.
Why it matters for founders
For women founders and founders of colour, Harlem Capital is one of the few institutional firms whose entire thesis is built around you — and its $134M Fund II means it writes real cheques, not token ones. Approach them with early traction and a clear growth story; their Techstars partnership also offers a route in if you want accelerator experience first.