A new diversity 'standard' for VCs 🤔https://sifted.eu/articles/diversity-vc-standard-launch/

AbbyScarborough·Sep 10, 2020·2 replies

Morning Elphas 👋I just wanted to highlight a piece of news from the VC world in Europe!Yesterday a new 'standard' for diversity in VC launched in order to encourage funds to be more transparent and proactive when it comes to diversity & inclusion. The 'standard' includes a range of best practices and an assessment process that VCs can go through in order to achieve a certification (kind of like a Fairtrade mark).A number of firms have already agreed to go through the certification (Notion, Atomico etc.) so if, you're fundraising in Europe, keep an eye out for the badge on their website!I definitely don't think this is the single answer to improving diversity & inclusion in the VC space, but it's a start and so I wanted to share.Hope you all have a great day!

teresaman·Sep 10, 2020·1 reply

Thanks for sharing this Abby! I looked more into it and I agree this is a good start, but I wonder 1) how much traction this will receive and 2) whether or not it'll expand into looking into the firm's portfolios. I think the internal practices and makeup of VC firms are important, but maybe even more so, that of those who they choose to fund.

AbbyScarborough·Sep 11, 2020

Thanks for the comment Teresa! I definitely think there's a chance that it will just be used by people who meet the standard, but I hope that if there's more awareness amongst founders to look for it that that will put more pressure on the funds (kind of like with Landscape VC).I assume it's done on the premise that a more diverse range of decision makers within a fund will lead to a more diverse range of founders being funded, but I completely agree that it has to be an effort on both sides!