Southwest Michigan now has a black-owned venture capital firm called Kalamazoo Forward Ventures (KZFV). It is made up of seven successful businessmen who hail from Michigan. The firm was launched with a $50 million capital commitment, according to WWMT-3 TV.
The group will invest the $50 million capital from limited partners for startups, innovators, and underrepresented founders in Kalamazoo.
“We came up with that fund by thinking about what we want to accomplish in the community; the ecosystem and the funds started growing as the ideas started growing,” Eric L. Wimbley, CEO and Founder of First Line Risk Management and Managing Partner of KZFV’s venture capital fund, said.
“It’s our job now as investors in this community and this ecosystem to now get that capital and to folks who traditionally never have it,” Jamauri A. Bogan, CEO of Bogan Developments and KZFV general partner, said.
The seven businessmen said they hope to achieve all this by separating the company’s investments into three funds: venture capital, real estate, and main street funds.
“We’re just really excited to get involved in the community in these three different areas and help them make success,” Daniel S. Jefferies, founder of Newmind Group and co-managing partner of the KZFV’s main street capital fund, said.
“We’ll be very intentional with working with the community as a whole, as far as the city and as far as the venture capital side, we’ll be looking nationwide,” Eric B. Cunningham, former city commissioner of Kalamazoo and general partner, added.
Mayor Bobby Hopewell, who is a general partner in Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, said it is a for-profit organization. “So we’re going to work and invest and look at how we grow. And we’re going to try to build profits for this organization as well so that we can do this again and again and again.”
