Large companies like Google and Meta are curbing their DEI programs, but Ulu Ventures has just raised its fourth fund for $208 million and is planning to change its investment strategy for diverse founders. Not, the company told the Wall Street Journal.
Co-founded by Miriam Rivera, Google's Latina and former vice president and assistant adviser, ULU uses a data-driven investment approach to rule out bias.
The 17-year-old company investing in seed startups notes that ongoing diversity efforts could pose risks under the new administration. “If you're going to stand strong in DEI today, you have to be buttoned up incredibly,” one of the company's partners told WSJ, and investing based on data would result in a specific founder demographic. It implies that it does not mean to support it.
Uru's limited partners appear to be mounted in line with an approach to diversity. The company's fourth fund is 50% larger than the third fund of $138 million raised in 2021.