Barclays Black Formation Investments
Managed by Zeal Capital Partners
Introducing BBFI
Barclays Black Formation Investments (BBFI), Managed by Zeal Capital Partners is a $50m investment vehicle dedicated to investing in pre-seed Black-led companies who are focused on narrowing the wealth and skills gaps through the development of innovative technologies, tech-enabled services, and platforms.
BBFI is targeting investments in exceptional founders leading category-defining commercial projects with the potential for outsized returns.
Launched by Barclays Principal Investments in October 2023, the fund is managed by Zeal Capital Partners, a mission-driven venture capital firm with a proven track record of investing in diverse management teams and innovative business models.
A key differentiator of BBFI is that it will also fund a venture scout programme, through which Zeal Capital Partners will identify and train the next generation of venture scouts to curate high potential, pre-seed investment opportunities. BBFI is not only deploying capital for growth and scale, but also establishing a vehicle that empowers overlooked venture capital professionals and grows the pool of next generation investors.
Meet some of our founders
GigEasy is building insurance infrastructure for the Gig Economy, enabling Gig Platforms and businesses to provide commercial insurance and benefits to their workers.
Muse is an AI platform that seamlessly integrates with financial, tax, and HR software, providing personalized tax and financial insights that drive consumer growth.
Aster reimagines care delivery for women’s health by providing full-service clinic enablement software that also helps prevent and predict common complications early on.
FAQs
Background
Founders
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- The business must be seeking no more than a $2m funding round at equal or less than an $10m post-money valuation or cap.
- The management team must include a Black CEO and/or one Black “CXO” who has company stock ownership commensurate with co-foundership.
- They must have a minimum viable product built and can be pre-revenue or with annualised revenues up to $150,000.
- They must have no more than $250,000 raised in outside capital (except non-dilutive).
- The fund is agnostic on sector, industry, and technology.
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The BBFI fund is sector agnostic, but Barclays and Zeal Capital Partners share an interest in opportunities that address systemic issues related to financial inclusion, the future of work and learning, and health equity. Both partners are focused on narrowing wealth and skills gaps through the development of innovative technologies.
Regardless of where startups land in their focus area, we are keen to invest in founding teams with the potential to compete in high growth markets and have the talent and commitment to find a repeatable and scalable business model that will create value.
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Investments will be pre-seed stage.
Direct investments made from BBFI are expected to have an average cheque size of around $250k-$500k for initial investments, with flexibility and potential for larger amounts for follow-on investments in later funding rounds.
We expect that investments made from the $5m Scout allocation to have smaller average cheque sizes of $25-50k, however this is flexible depending on the investment opportunity.
Venture Scout programme
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A unique aspect of BBFI is that $5m of the $50m total will be carved out for a ‘Venture Scout’ programme, in which venture scouts, identified and trained by Zeal, will curate high-potential investment opportunities.
The scout programme is a unique and targeted approach to wealth-building opportunities for aspiring Black investors as well as the Black-led teams they look to back, addressing industry shortfalls in the demand and supply of startup capital.
BBFI is not only deploying capital for growth and scale, but also establishing vehicles that empower overlooked venture capital professionals and grows the pool of next generation investors.
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Zeal Capital Partners is exclusively responsible for identifying scouts, with some of the following experience:
- Passion for supporting Black founder businesses and communities
- An aspiring angel, VC or solo General Partner
- 5-7 years professional experience
- Deep functional skill set and category knowledge
- Differentiated network and outsized ecosystem presence
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The scouts will have a primary geographical focus in the USA and a secondary focus of the UK, EU, Switzerland and Canada.
Meet the team
Barclays Principal Investments Team
Kester Keating, Head of US Principal Investments
Aran Rudrakumar, US Principal Investments
Zeal Capital Partners Team
Nasir Qadree, Founder and Managing Partner
Stefanie Thomas, Managing Director
Richard Odior, Investor, Pre-seed vehicle
Bianca Phillip, Analyst, Pre-seed vehicle
Important information
The material contained herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or purchase, or the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, any securities.
Barclays does not accept any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential losses (in contract, tort or otherwise) arising from the use of this information or any reliance on the information contained herein.