Firm overview
Fearless Fund is an Atlanta-based early-stage venture capital fund that invests in pre-seed, seed, and Series A businesses led by women of color. The firm is managed by three general partners: Arian Simone, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Ayana Parsons. Arian, the president and CEO, is a serial entrepreneur who built a PR marketing agency from the ground up, working with entertainment giants including Sony, Universal, and Walt Disney. Keshia, the fund’s chief development officer, spent eight seasons playing the iconic Rudy Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” before launching the Kamp Kizzy Foundation, a nonprofit organization geared toward inspiring and empowering young women of color of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Ayana is the fund’s COO. She brings an impressive mix of consulting, executive leadership, and economics experience, including as the global head of retail and consumer goods for the World Economic Forum and most recently as a senior partner of board and CEO inclusion and marketing transformation at Korn Ferry.
Firm strategy
Through their experiences in corporate America and entertainment, Arian, Keshia, and Ayana saw first-hand how women of color don’t receive the same opportunities others do. The Fearless Fund aims to provide institutional-level support through programs and networks that help women of color advance their companies, careers, and socioeconomic status. Their 12-month Get Venture Ready Program supports women of color business owners with the training, mentorship, knowledge, and skills they need to grow their companies. On top of this, Fearless Fund has a strong network of corporate partners, including Facebook, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft, who support these companies in growing their networks and businesses.
Why we invested
We admire the mission of the Fearless Fund. With less than 1% of venture capital allocated to women of color, according to a 2020 study by ProjectDiane, the world needs more managers like Arian, Keshia, and Ayana. We’re incredibly impressed by the backgrounds of all three GPs and the tenacity and hustle with which they tackle the problem of systemic inequality in venture. As Arian put it, she’s, “the living manifestation of the promise that I made to myself at 21 that one day I was going to become the business investor that I was looking for.”