Startup Boston’s Dealflow Mixer, Featuring Underrepresented Founders

Black founders raised 0.13% of all capital allocated to U.S. startups in Q3 of 2023, according to Crunchbase. That’s about $39.7 million out of $29.9 billion.

​​PitchBook Data’s US VC Female Founders Dashboard (2024), which tracks founders’ gender but not race, found that female founders received 2.1% of all venture capital invested since the beginning of the year.

​​Startup Boston welcomes founders from historically underrepresented backgrounds* and investors eager to change those investment statistics to our first Dealflow Mixer of 2024. At this event, founders seeking seed funding and investors seeking investments will get several hand-picked matches to sit down and explore if there is alignment between startup and investor.

​​As one of our most requested events, we go through a rigorous selection process to ensure the best matches. Requesting an invite does not guarantee a seat, but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

​Criteria for startups:

• ​Seed stage ($500K – $2.5M)
• ​Led by a founder from a historically underrepresented background
• ​Industry/vertical matches up with investor applicants

​Criteria for investors:

• ​Willing to invest in Seed stage startups ($500K – $2.5M)
• ​Interested in meeting founders from historically underrepresented backgrounds
• ​Industry/vertical matches up with startup applicants

​​Thanks to our host, Silicon Valley Bank, for curating a space for people from many backgrounds to access financial resources.

​​*Our definition of “historically underrepresented backgrounds” includes BIPOC, female, female-identifying, LGBTQ+ identifying, non-college educated, and beyond. If you are unsure if you qualify, apply anyways!