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Black Seed Ventures

Micro-fund

GBB2B SaaSAI/MLHealthtechClimateDeep TechOther

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Investment thesis

Black Seed Ventures champions inclusion by addressing the historical underfunding and over-mentoring of Black British founders — a community that received only 0.24% of UK venture funding over the past decade. As both a Fund and a Community rooted in Brixton, Black Seed brings capital, connections, and holistic support to exceptional Black founders, fusing technology, culture, empathy, and innovation to foster a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. The firm specialises in early-stage (pre-seed/seed) British tech and tech-enabled businesses with aspirations for global influence, writing initial cheques of £100,000–£400,000. At least one co-founder must identify as Black, and the firm prioritises entrepreneurs pioneering innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time — spanning deep tech, healthcare, AI, and climate. Black Seed is industry-agnostic but particularly interested in deep tech, healthcare, and AI.

Notable quotes

We exist as a tech fund and a community. We exist to bridge that gap and give Black founders inclusion.

Karl Lokko · TechCrunch — 'Venture firm Black Seed raises £5M inaugural fund to invest in Black founders' · 2023-06-12

We have built a pipeline of Black entrepreneurs, primed and ready.

Cyril Lutterodt · TechCrunch — 'Venture firm Black Seed raises £5M inaugural fund to invest in Black founders' · 2023-06-12

It became clear to me that without the distribution of economic resources, true equity would remain out of reach. This gap in funding represents a significant opportunity to drive meaningful change and foster innovation.

Karl Lokko · People of Color in Tech — 'Black-Led Venture Capital Firm Black Seed VC Wins DEI Award' · 2025-01-21

Team

Karl Lokko

Founding Managing Partner

Deep TechAI/MLHealthtechOther

Yvonne Nagawa

Founding Partner & COO

Other

Jonathan (JB) Bullock

Investment Partner

Other

Leonie Thomas

Investment Associate

Other

Michael Bonsu

Fund Controller

Other

Recent investments

CompanyRoundSizeDate
GRYD EnergyPre-seed$1m2025-01-27

Frequent co-investors

VC firmDeals together
SFC Capital1
Oasthouse Ventures1

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