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The review process was supported by a selection committee of limited partners with experience working with emerging managers in venture, including Ashlie Tyler of Bank of America, Geoff Abrahams of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Katie Fackler of a private family office, Lisa Cawley of Screen Door, Angela Outlaw-Matheny of Crewcial Partners, Margot Kane of Spring Point Partners, and Matt Rho of Avivar Capital.

The Fall 2023 cohort is composed of 36 funds, 25% of which include at least one GP that is Black, 17% Latinx, 39% Asian, 8% from the LGBTQIA+ community, and 36% are first-generation U.S. citizens. The funds are headquartered all across the US, covering 13 states. Over 83% of the funds involved are raising Fund 1 and 53% are a solo GP. Some of the top sectors of focus include health and wellness, consumer technology and climate technology. The original goal was to select 30 funds for the inaugural cohort; however, the strength of the applicant pool coupled with the particularly challenging fundraising environment for underrepresented GPs today motivated Recast to work to increase the size of the group and support more managers.

The Recast Accelerate inaugural cohort includes:

Chi Achebe, Achebe Capital

Annie Luchsinger, Breakers VC

Pamela York, Kathy Tune, Capita3 Ventures

Tessa Flippin, Capitalize VC

Sally Zheng, Centenarian Fund

Jennifer Kan, Michael Luciani, Climate Capital

Rebecca Gevalt, Meg Vorland, Meagan Metzger, Dcode Capital

Megan Maloney, Dria Ventures

Mahrinah Shije, Endemic Venture Capital

Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures

Connie Bowen, Farmhand Ventures

Jenny Barba, Jeff Chu, Features Capital

Kathryn Finney, Genius Guild Greenhouse Fund

Jennifer Keiser Neundorfer, Maren Thomas Bannon, January Ventures

Helene Servillon, JourneyOne Ventures

Ariane Tom, Kaleida Capital

Madeline Darcy, Kaya Ventures

Rohini Chakravarthy, Chad Bailey, NewBuild Venture Capital

Batchimeg Ganbaatar, Tem Tumurbat, Nomadic Venture Partners

Kimberley Nixon, Open Venture Capital

Erica Wenger, Park Rangers Capital

Jenny He, Position Ventures

Rachel ten Brink, Herman Goihman, Red Bike Capital

Lisa Morales-Hellebo, Brian Laung Aoaeh, REFASHIOND Ventures

Tahira Dosani, Vikas Raj, ResilienceVC

Tara Tan, Strange VC

Sonam Velani, Laura Fox, Streetlife Ventures

Noramay Cadena, Shayna Harris, Supply Change Capital

Sydney Thomas, Symphonic Capital

Stephanie Campell, Leslie Goldman, Diana Murakhovskaya, The Artemis Fund

Himalaya Rao-Potlapally, The BFM Fund

Amber Illig, The Council Fund

Allison Barr Allen, Trail Run Capital

Danielle Steer, Amanda Heyman, Adam Choe, Tundra Ventures

Brita Rosenheim, Beatriz Franco, Vita Vera Ventures

Gale Wilkinson, Caroline Casson, VITALIZE Venture Capital

"I'm thrilled to welcome Recast Accelerate's first cohort, a group of high caliber and well-deserving managers. We're excited to work with this talented group of GPs," says Sara Zulkosky, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Recast Capital. "We look forward to supporting their firms' evolution as they leverage the program's various resources. The fundraising landscape has been particularly challenging for emerging managers, and we hope that having access to the networking opportunities, educational components, and additional capital through the program will help them expedite their success in market. We are looking forward to the impact that they can have on the broader venture ecosystem."

Recast Accelerate launched in early 2023 with the intent to help more diverse managers successfully raise and run institutional-quality funds over time. Accelerate began by focusing on women and nonbinary-led emerging venture managers, and provides access to Recast's established Enablement Program, including key educational content, professional development and community-building resources, complimentary executive coaching, and $100k to be leveraged in support of each fund's backend operations. The program is rooted in the hypothesis that by increasing the number of emerging GPs that identify as women or non-binary, particularly those focused on investing at the earliest stages of company development, you will also increase the percentage of VC funding to founders from underrepresented backgrounds. The only requirement is each manager agrees to report on the demographics of the founders they back and the findings will be publicly released.

"We are passionate about helping to increase the number of underrepresented emerging managers because they are bringing innovation to an industry long overdue for change," said Courtney McCrea, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Recast Capital. "Accelerate is one of the first programs of its kind to fully support women and non-binary emerging managers with no strings attached. We are grateful for the trust that these managers and funds have placed in Recast to join along on this exciting journey to change the face of venture capital."

Early support for Accelerate comes from Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company. Recast is looking to bring additional funders on board to broaden the program's reach, include more managers in future cohorts and provide more funding to the managers. In addition to this cohort, the Accelerate program will announce two additional cohorts over the next two years. Recast Accelerate is a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity.