With 16 Unicorns In Her Portfolio, Serena Williams Announces The Rebranding Of Serena Ventures

Serena Ventures has rebranded.

Starfire Ventures

Fast Company reports that the venture capital firm led by Serena Williams (managing partner) and Beth Ferreira (general partner) has rebranded to Starfire Ventures. Williams said the move is intended to give the VC firm greater longevity, and she believes it will create more opportunities.

“I felt like Serena Ventures is great, but I wanted it to be bigger than me. There are so many amazing people on the team, and there’s so much that we do. I felt like when you put a name on something, it can limit what you do. I want it to live on. I want this to be something that people look at years and years from now,” she said during a live taping of the “Rapid Response” podcast, according to Fast Company.

“It’s going to live on in a different way. I think it just gives us some freedom to do so much more. And we kept the SV, so it’s still SV, because we also internally always say ‘SV,'” she added.

Starfire Ventures has had five exits and has invested in 16 unicorns, including fintech Esusu, which AFROTECH previously reported. Its inaugural $111 million fund has supported companies such as Calico (supply chain management); Esusu; Khloud (high-protein snack brand); Rebel (e-commerce); HUED (digital health); and more, according to its website.

Nearly 70% of Starfire Ventures’ portfolio companies are led by women or people of color, Fast Company reports.

“We see different companies that most people don’t get to see because they don’t open the doors. So our team, and the way I’ve hired our team, means a lot more women do feel comfortable coming to us. And by the way, a lot of those companies are doing very well right now. They wouldn’t have the opportunity to do well if we weren’t on their cap table,” Williams shared on the podcast.

“We invest in everyone. We invest in people who look like you. We invest in people who look like me. It’s just that we do see a lot of women and a lot of underrepresented founders because they know that we’ll hear their story. And we don’t invest in all of them… We are only investing in winners. If we don’t feel the company is going to return our fund, we’re not going to invest in them. That’s just how we look at it.”

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The post With 16 Unicorns In Her Portfolio, Serena Williams Announces The Rebranding Of Serena Ventures appeared first on AfroTech.