Exclusive: Local founder jumps into VC to support ‘historically excluded’ startups
February 22, 2022
Melanie Akwule started Minwo Inc. to help Black-owned businesses grow and succeed. Then a phone call from an interested investor opened another door to support companies like hers.
Akwule had pitched her Woodbridge startup to Mark Hubbard, general partner with Atlanta’s Renew Venture Capital, a new investment firm for young companies led by founders “who have been shut out of venture funding because of what they look like and not what they are building,” as it describes itself.
“He had been following my work and thought that if they were going to do this correctly with a truly inclusive lens, they needed to make sure they had the representation on the team that they wanted to see in their portfolio,” Akwule said in an interview.
She’s now a general partner with Renew, alongside seven others spread across the country. Their charge: prove that social impact ventures can be large-scale, profitable, successful businesses — which aligns with Minwo’s mission “to create generational wealth within the Black community,” Akwule said.
“Investing in historically excluded and female founders gives us a leg up in the VC market,” she added. “The idea that these founders can focus on areas that others can’t, can’t see, don’t understand, underserved market opportunities, really gives a competitive advantage.”
Renew is now raising its $50 million fund, Renew VC Impact Fund LP, and plans to deploy investments between $250,000 to $3 million as the capital comes in. Entrepreneurs can apply here.
Akwule is simultaneously raising a seed round for Minwo, which she first opened about 10 months ago. The company has about 10% of the $1.8 million target committed at this point, she said. And as a Black woman raising capital in a white male-dominated arena, she said, that it took longer than a few months was “fairly standard” — and that trend is starting to turn.
“I think in the early days, as I was getting more experience with the fundraising journey, I encountered a lot of investors that I say have minimizing questions or minimizing views on the company — they didn’t necessarily see the vision, they didn’t see the opportunity, they didn’t really see my potential,” Akwule said. “Over time I have been able to clarify the message, really hone in, but also meet with investors that I knew were more aligned with my business and what we were doing.”
The seed capital would help the business onboard and serve its growing customer base, Akwule said. Minwo currently counts 200 customers and is shooting to reach 4,000 by the end of the first quarter, “so we have a lot of work to do in this last month of March,” she said.
Minwo’s artificial intelligence platform, called Rialto, serves organizations that connect Black-owned businesses with resources, funding, coaching and mentorship. “To me, they’re like the spoke in the wheel of a network,” Akwule said. So simply put, Minwo’s tech consolidates and facilitates that work for those organizations. The next step, she said, will be figuring out how to get these organizations “that are working in their own silos” to share best practices and lessons learned with each other.
The company reached about $30,000 in revenue during 2021, before its platform went live — mostly from working with incubators to increase the number of Black founders that apply to their programs or finding Black-owned businesses to provide pro bono services. Minwo is aiming for $180,000 in revenue for 2022.
Minwo and the companies using its platform will also serve as a pipeline for Renew, Akwule said. “I work with them fairly intimately, I understand their businesses and what they’re doing, so it just gives me a pool of businesses to tap into when it comes to the fund and companies that we’re looking to invest in.”