Some of the most common questions we heard when starting LongJump were: "Are there even enough underrepresented founders in the Chicagoland area to fund? Where will you find them? Are they VC-backable?"
Today, we are thrilled to share that of the 168 companies that applied for LongJump's first cycle of funding (88% of which are in the Chicagoland area or nearby), 91% have at least one founder from an underrepresented group. The pipeline is not the problem.
In addition:
- 52% have at least one female founder
- 36% have at least one African-American founder
- 32% have at least one Asian-American founder
- 31% have at least one foreign born or 1st gen. founder
- 29% have at least one Hispanic or Latinx founder
- 18% have at least one LGBTQ+ founder
We also saw diversity in company type, with Marketplaces (13%), Consumer Products (10%), Consumer Services & SaaS (8%), Social & Community (8%), and B2B Tools & Services (7%) as our top 5 of 35 industries.
So far, we've been blown away by the early-stage companies being conceptualized and built here and can't wait to make our first investments. We hope that being transparent about these numbers helps demystify the process for founders and are always open to chatting further during our office hours.
Lastly, while we're heads down learning more, please spread the word about our next cohort, for which applications open on May 17th!