Andrée-Lise Méthot of Cycle Capital Management on Trust, Crises, and Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

By: Janine Marderian

As the international community works to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic effects are compounding around the world and in every sector. Venture capital is no exception, with both the public and private markets struggling to cope with the fallout. While some aspects of our current moment are unprecedented, we look to extract lessons from the past economic downturns that can inform how limited partners, general partners, and founders make decisions, structure their priorities, and leverage their resources during and…

By: Sarah Chen

Are we just reading off talking points to pacify the marketplace, placing a band-aid over a deep wound that has been inflicted again and again over the last 400 years; or are we committed to working on real, systemic, institutionalized change? What does this mean for the world of venture which has struggled with diversity from the beginning? Is this time any different?

By: Janine Marderian

In partnership with Mastercard, Beyond the Billion™ (BTB), a global consortium of venture funds that have pledged more than $1 billion to be invested into women-founded companies, hosted a conversation with a panel of expert changemakers who are creatively and strategically building a more inclusive and equitable innovation ecosystem.

The events of the last few months have prompted individuals, corporations, and policymakers across the United States to face the systemic inequities that pervade our society. Conversations in this time of racial reckoning have focused on correcting these inequities and achieving better outcomes for those who have been…

By: Janine Marderian

“Investing in women and people of color isn’t a nice-to-have; it is essential for sustainable innovation”- Ann Cairns

In partnership with Mastercard, Beyond the Billion (BTB), a global consortium of venture funds that have pledged beyond $1bn to be invested into women-founded companies, convened a group of experts from across the venture ecosystem to discuss their thoughts on how the ongoing COVID-19 global crisis is shaping approaches to funding innovation.

At our inaugural Billion Dollar Bytes event, Cédric Bisson, Partner, Teralys Capital Ann Cairns, Executive Vice-Chair, Mastercard Stéphanie Chretien, Partner, Demeter, and Ollen Douglass, Managing Partner, Motley…

Kay-Mok Ku of Gobi Partners on Diversification, Adversity, and Why Women are Resilient in Times of Crisis — A View from Asia

By: Janine Marderian

As the international community works to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic effects are compounding around the world and in every sector. Venture capital is no exception, with both the public and private markets struggling to cope with the fallout. While many argue about the unprecedented nature of this pandemic, Beyond The Billion (BTB) looks to extract lessons from the past economic downturns that can inform how limited partners (LPs), general partners(GPs), and founders make…

By: Sarah Chen

The sentiment on the ground is increasingly grim to say the least, with further extensions of stay-at-home orders across the globe, even amidst protests by locals. COVID-19 has reshaped our view of normalcy and in many ways impacted the way we think about our lives and our work. There have been multiple accounts in the recent days and weeks of how this will affect the venture community and what the shake-out would mean for the startup landscape.

As we at Beyond The Billion™(BTB) continue to work with our partner funds, we are encouraged that many within our…

How the business of making money and making impact converge at Grand Challenges Canada

By: Karina Chan

How Annie Theriault got to Grand Challenges Canada(GCC) is not how most people find themselves working at a nonprofit organization funding critical health and development challenges in the developing world. Annie was in the business of making money for a long time.

But why should the worlds of making money and making impact be so disparate? Annie’s story is one that illuminates the growing trend of the convergence of the two. Starting her career in traditional capital markets, first in trading and sales…

By: Karina Chan

Venture Capital funding has gotten much flack for investing its dollars by pattern matching, thus resulting in a predominantly white, male, tech pool of entrepreneurs with access to capital. Female founders only got 2.2% of the VC dollar pie in all of 2018.

But what about the VC partners themselves? Some attribute the lack of funding to diverse founders due to the fact that partners themselves lack diversity. So what drives that?

The Billion Dollar Fund’s July feature takes a deeper dive into the world that most of us VC-money-dreaming folks never get to interface with… but…