Seven Venture Capital Companies form Diversity Data Alliance – urbangeekz

Seven venture capital organizations focused on diversifying the tech ecosystem have joined forces to form the Diversity Data Alliance. 

The alliance, comprising Diversity VC, ​All Raise, ​2Gether-International, ​BLCK VC, ​Somos VC, ​StartOut, and Vets in Tech, has taken a pioneering step by releasing a whitepaper that sets a standard for demographic data collection.

This alliance was created because ​the venture capital and entrepreneurship communities remain fairly homogenous, with limited representation of historically marginalized persons with regard to race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational attainment, religious and military affiliation, and more. 

For several years, various venture capital and entrepreneurship ecosystems organizations have collected data and published reports highlighting the continuing inequity of capital allocation and access to resources within the industry. ​

However, the underlying data and analysis are based on each organization’s demographic focus. Further, establishing connections between them—such as who is funding whom—has remained out of reach. 

So, in the spring of 2023, the group began standardizing its demographic data collection and creating an agreed-upon data format, finalizing implementation in the spring of 2024.

“I am incredibly proud of the work and commitment from these seven organizations to come together to standardize data for the collective good of our joint mission of bringing diversity and inclusion to the venture and startup ecosystem,” said Sarah Millar, COO Of Diversity VC and a founding member of the Diversity Data Alliance. 

“By standardizing our data and linking it together, we could uncover some yet-to-be-seen connections between funders and founders and see trends across communities. Further, we can measure the effectiveness of our programming and track trends over time to help all of our organizations better serve our communities.”

This new standardization makes data sharing across these organizations possible as information is now compatible.

What The Diversity Data Alliance Members Are Saying

Here is what some of the group had to share:

“We can’t change what we do not measure. This initiative is fundamental in advancing our shared goal of fostering a more diverse venture and tech ecosystem.” — Paige Hendrix Buckner, CEO of All Raise.

“Standardizing demographic data collection is a pivotal step towards creating a more equitable venture capital landscape by creating data integrity. Better quality data means we can accurately track against our goals to diversify the venture ecosystem. BLCK VC is proud to partner with other organizations through the Diversity Data Alliance, so we can collectively drive meaningful change and foster greater inclusion in the venture and tech ecosystem.” — Naima Warsame, COO of Black VC.

“Our research at StartOut has shown that only 0.5% of VC funding goes to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. However, one thing we’ve been curious about is how much funding goes to underrepresented intersectional entrepreneurs, and this type of improved demographic tracking will be vital for us to understand this underreported community and further underreported metric. We are excited to be part of the Diversity Data Alliance to collectively agree upon how to request demographics in a thoughtful manner. Each organization in the collective brings their unique perspective and lived experiences. We are excited to deepen our relationship with the other ecosystem builders to provide and share best practices and better understanding of the communities we represent.” — Irene Tang, Director of Data and Insights at StartOut

“As the Founder, CEO, and Chief Disabled Officer of an organization dedicated to supporting Disabled Entrepreneurs with tools and resources to thrive, I’ve seen firsthand the gap in data on funding for underrepresented founders, especially for founders with disabilities,” said Hardly any data on investment capital awarded to founders with disabilities exist, but with the Data Diversity Alliance, I trust we can help to flip the narrative and shine a light on both the needs, and accomplishments, of this business community.” — Diego Mariscal, CEO & Chief Disabled Person at 2Gether-International.

This work represents an opportunity to build the most comprehensive, detailed data set on diversity in tech to date and work with public and private industries to share diversity data and progress. The Diversity Data Alliance encourages all groups collecting data to follow this standard format—collecting comprehensive and compatible data across organizations to be centralized in one accessible database.