Gaingels is one of the largest, most diverse, and most active venture investment communities, and we are dedicated to showing the world that equity of access and representation in venture capital delivers positive returns.
We are amongst the most active LGBTQIA+/Allies venture investors in the world, but represent an otherwise extremely diverse group of investors and check writers from many backgrounds, and we particularly seek to promote diversity and inclusion at our portfolio companies through direct and network support.
The Gaingels Network welcomes membership applications from Accredited Investors who are interested in helping advance our mission to advance social change through outstanding investments.
Already A Member
To this day, we include over 4,200+ individual members, 3,700 of which are accredited investors interested in helping diversify the ecosystem and aim to realize outstanding returns by investing in exciting companies within the innovation economy, with leadership that is as committed as we are to building diverse and inclusive companies. Of anyone interested in joining our network, we ask three things:
To commit to helping our portfolio companies in ways other than simply investing money. That might be an introduction, advice, a business connection, or engaging in a way that is directly applicable to their experience as an advisor, mentor, or board member. When we deliver value to our companies, we contribute to raising the importance of bringing more diverse investors and leaders into the ecosystem, which brings more investment opportunities and, in turn, more opportunities for change.
To introduce others who might be interested in creating social change through business and profitable investment and bring them into the Gaingels Network, especially if they are from groups traditionally underrepresented in venture, such as women, BiPoC individuals, or LGBTQ+ folx
To conduct themselves professionally and with integrity in all circumstances. We are the representatives of our network and of our community whenever we interact with our portfolio companies, CEOs, co-investors or any other part of the ecosystem. This includes honoring our commitment to confidentiality and avoiding and alerting others to potential conflicts of interest when investing in or discussing individual companies.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to show the world that equity of access and representation in venture capital delivers positive returns.
We do this first and foremost by investing with the best through a community that measurably impacts diversity and by helping diverse and underrepresented (including LGBTQ+ and gender non-confirming) leaders of high-growth companies have access to capital. The knock-on effect of being able to raise capital is huge. Raising capital to fund a company’s growth is an important attribute of success for founders, and successful founders/CEOs quickly become people of power and influence. This opens doors and creates opportunities for those who have been traditionally excluded from them.
But we also know that diversity and inclusion is a journey and that equitable representation is an ever ongoing and renewing task. We therefore invest and support all companies that recognize its importance and see Gaingels as a valuable and strategic partner in building truly diverse and inclusive teams through our network of members, experts, and portfolio companies.
We put this in practice in the following ways:
Gaingels was started in 2014 by co-founders and Managing Partners David Beatty and Paul Grossinger as a small but active angel group made of LGBTQ+ investors, investing in LGBTQ+ founders. After a few years, and as the attention to the lack of diversity in venture continued to gain momentum, David and Paul recognized the opportunity to pursue the original mission with deeper and longer lasting impact by focusing on a broader mandate to co-invest alongside other venture investors and firms who recognized the value that the Gaingels network and focus could add. We also moved from being focused exclusively on LGBTQ founders to a broader focus on diverse leadership across the venture chain, from founders, to c-suite, to board members, to individual LPs and check writers, but always including explicitly LGBTQ and gender non-conforming leadership which often was being forgotten in other efforts in DEI in venture. With a broader mandate also came a broader scope in funding stage and sectors, leading to today’s Gaingels, a large and active venture syndicate that works cross-stage and cross-sector, and focused on promoting and supporting diverse leadership in venture. Managing Partners Lorenzo Thione – who also co-founded StartOut, the leading non-profit network in support of LGBTQ entrepreneurs, and Peter Steinberg joined the team around 2018, just as this inflection and transformation was afoot.
In the time since, Gaingels has grown to over 2000 members, a portfolio of over 800 companies, and its network of investors collectively has invested over $500M to date, with a 5x growth YoY each year from 2018 to 2021.
Investment & Management
Jennifer Jeronimo
CEO of Gaingels Inc., General Partner
David Beatty
Co-founder & General Partner
Peter Steinberg
General Partner
Paul Grossinger
Co-founder & General Partner
Lorenzo Thione
General Partner
Jake Prigoff, M.D.
General Partner
Max Frenkel
General Partner
David Weisburd
Venture Advisor, 10X Capital
Brian Lucksinger
Director, Special Projects / Director, Community Management
Brandon Parkes
Director, Board Diversity Program
Alli Alosa
Solutions Engineer
Iman El Hassan
Chief of Staff
Leslie Sanchez
Junior Tax Preparer
Cathal O’Dea
Director, Investment Operations Manager
Philip Veber
Investment Operations Associate
Oliver McNeil
Investment Operations Associate
Nikki Hudson
Senior Tax Associate
Desmond Beatty
Operations, Processes and Systems
Scott Mulligan
Director, Data Operations
Zack Rosenbloom
Research Operations
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The Gaingels 100 is not a ranked list, but rather a collection of amazing, accomplished and inspiring venture-backed, LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. They hail from all over the world, and have built, or are building, great companies of the exact kind we founded Gaingels to support and invest in. We’re also very proud that a number of these 100 honorees are in fact already Gaingels portfolio founders and we look forward to that proportion becoming ever greater in years to come. With companies spanning from seed stage to growth, with many successful exits, and several either public, or going public at the time of publication, it is amazing to recognize the important leadership that these out, queer, and proud entrepreneurs exercise, and the power their experiences have to change perceptions, unwind stereotypes, and undo prejudices. The courageous and honest acknowledgments of their own journeys, challenges, and ultimately, successes, act as a powerful beacon for all those who see themselves reflected in those experiences. We started Gaingels in 2014 with the mission of bringing about social change and equality for LGBTQIA+ people, and all people, in the venture capital ecosystem through investment in diversity. As we grew, and as our scope expanded, our vision remained the same: a more diverse, equitable and accessible venture capital ecosystem, in which leadership is as diverse and inclusive as the reality that surrounds it.
We deeply believe in representation: as a matter of fact, we believe representation is one of the most powerful forces for implementing positive change in the world. It’s only when people see the kind of future that’s possible for them, by seeing others in the roles and lives they aspire to who look like them, share the same experiences, and inhabit the same challenges, that they are truly called into action and participate in building that future for themselves and for others after them. These 100 incredible people are pioneers, explorers, builders, doers, dreamers, and role models for so many others, and we are truly proud to help them share their stories. With this edition of the Gaingels 100, we seek to celebrate their journeys, provide a platform to their companies and amplify their voices, inviting people everywhere to stop and consider what greater innovations, discoveries, and economic growth would we all enjoy if the world of venture was truly as varied and diverse as the rainbow.
THE GAINGELS TEAM
