Kofi Ampadu, a partner at a16z who led the company's Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, has left the company, according to an email sent to staff obtained by TechCrunch. This comes months after the company suspended TxO and laid off most of its employees.
“I was deeply grateful for the opportunity and trust to lead this work during my time in the office,” Ampadu wrote in an email sent Friday afternoon with the subject line “A16Z Chapter Closing.”
“Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and helping them hone their ideas, raise capital, and grow into confident leaders was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” he wrote.
Ampadu led the program, which was launched in 2020, for more than four years before it was put on hiatus last November, replacing original leader Knight Jones. Ampadu then apparently worked on Speedrun, the latest accelerator for a16z.
Ampadu's departure likely signals the end of the TxO chapter. This fund and program focuses on supporting underserved founders by providing access to technology networks and investment capital through donor-advised funds. While some founders praised the program, others criticized the controversial donor-advised structure. The program also launched a grant program in 2024 that will provide $50,000 to nonprofit organizations that support diverse founders.
The last cohort was in March 2025, an indefinite hiatus as many top technology companies restructure, reduce, or eliminate previous public commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have reached out to a16z and Ampadu for comment.
His full memo is below.
I moved to the US three months before my 11th birthday. A month later, I started sixth grade at a school more than 5,000 miles away from home, friends, and everything familiar. Recently, my mother reminded me that the school requires me to enroll as an English as a Second Language student. My memory quickly recalled how confused I was. Even at 10 years old, I knew it didn't make sense for a kid from English-speaking Ghana to be asked to learn a language he was already fluent in.
This was a system requirement, an overarching assumption about what students in a particular region could and could not do. This same type of systemic assumption is what we seek to challenge through our Talent x Opportunity Initiative. Venture ecosystems often rely on agents such as schools, networks, and previous credentials, which can hide out good founders who don't take the most conventional path. TxO invested in and supported overlooked founders to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity.
During my tenure, I deeply appreciated the opportunity and trust to lead this work. Identifying entrepreneurs outside of my network and helping them hone their ideas, raise funding, and grow into confident leaders has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.
As we move on to our next chapter, we depart with pride in what we have built and gratitude for everyone who helped shape it. Thank you for your trust, cooperation, and belief in what is possible. There's still a lot of work to do, so I'm excited to keep building.