Investor Profile: Brown Venture Group - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

If you are learning how to get funding from Brown Venture Group, you are looking at a Minneapolis based venture firm with a deliberately local, mission driven story. Brown Venture Group was launched in 2018 to back Black, Latino and Indigenous technology startups, when its founders were told the capital was on the coasts. Its model blends venture capital with venture building, and it has worked closely with tribal governments and community partners.

What Brown Venture Group is

Brown Venture Group, LLC was co-founded in 2018 by Dr. Paul Campbell and Dr. Chris Brooks, and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its official site describes a firm investing in undervalued companies using leading edge technologies. The current partner page lists Dr. Paul Campbell, Jerome Hamilton and Chris Dykstra as partners, differing from the original founding pair. The firm also calls itself a venture studio venture capital firm, doing more hands on building than a purely cheque writing fund.

Thesis, sectors and stages

The thesis is that Black, Latino and Indigenous founders face structural barriers to capital, networks and early friends and family funding, and a hands on, locally rooted investor can close part of that gap. Brown Venture Group focuses on technology startups in emerging technologies, including energy, health, fintech and artificial intelligence in third party listings, mainly at seed and Series A stages, with very early pre seed work. One listing, VC Sheet, describes very early $10,000 to $100,000 checks, while giving a wider average range of $100,000 to $5 million. As those ranges conflict and no single current cheque is published on the official site, the current standard cheque is treated here as not publicly disclosed.

Fund size, backers and portfolio

In August 2021, TechCrunch reported Brown Venture Group was fundraising for a targeted inaugural $50 million fund, with 75 percent committed at that time. Best Buy committed up to $10 million as a lead limited partner, potentially about 20 percent of the target. The Bush Foundation later committed up to $1.5 million to Brown Venture Group Fund One. Reporting at that time said the firm had invested in 21 BIPOC owned companies over the previous year. Portfolio names reported across credible sources include Ecolution, Hollywood Unlocked, Nice Healthcare and Big Navajo Energy. A final closed size for Fund One beyond the 2021 target is not published in the sources read.

Programs and partnerships

Beyond cheques, Brown Venture Group offers hands on venture building and mentorship, plus partnerships with tribal governments to co-create equity finance solutions for Native American entrepreneurs. Its Federal Mashup Lab aims to increase participation of underrepresented contributors in federal technology transfer commercialisation, and in 2021 it and Best Buy announced an entrepreneurship programme at Best Buy Teen Tech Centers.

How to apply for funding

The official Brown Venture Group site currently states it is not currently accepting unsolicited pitches. Do not send a cold deck. Instead, seek a warm introduction through a portfolio founder, a tribal government or community partner, or a co-investor such as Best Buy, and use the Drop Us A Line route on brownventuregroup.com only for a properly introduced enquiry.