The DC Venture Capital Fund is an innovative $26 million venture capital program targeting pre-seed and early-stage tech companies in Washington, DC, with a specific focus on supporting businesses led by Black, women, immigrant, and socio-economically disadvantaged founders.
How the fund works
The DC Venture Capital Fund deploys more than $26 million in equity investments into pre-seed, seed, and early-stage technology companies located in Washington, DC. It is funded through the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and led by K Street Capital on behalf of the District. Rather than investing directly, the District places capital with selected fund managers, who source and manage investments in DC companies.
For founders
Companies do not apply to the District for an investment. Capital reaches founders through the fund managers selected to deploy it, so the route in is the managers’ own pipelines. Current program status, participating managers, and how to reach them are published by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) and by K Street Capital.
If you are a DC-based technology company weighing an expansion or a move, WDCEP can point you at the right people. Get in touch.
For prospective fund managers
DMPED, the U.S. Treasury, and K Street Capital ran a call for fund managers to oversee and distribute the fund. The requirements published in that call were:
- Be a private financial organization — a partnership, corporation, trust, limited liability company, or consortium. For-profit or nonprofit, but the organization’s primary activity must be investing capital into businesses.
- Have a management team with significant experience making portfolio investments
- Demonstrate a track record of positive returns on investment
- Be able to raise a 1:1 private match for all SSBCI funds
- Offer one or more financing vehicles to support investible companies
- Show a track record of building investment pipelines
- Have experience underwriting deals and creating processes for due diligence on potential investees, monitoring performance, and providing services to portfolio companies