Neo has invested $100M in women & underrepresented CEOs

That’s 45% of all our capital deployed since inception

Dear Neo family,

We just crossed an important milestone: we’ve invested more than $100 million – 45% of all our capital deployed to date – into startups led by women and underrepresented CEOs. 

Our funds have earned 51% IRR since inception, more than the VC industry target of 30%. Some of our most successful investments so far include Ethena, Forethought, Kalshi, Kepler, Pavilion, and Vanta.

Since 2017, our thesis has been to invest in people -- specifically, strong technical leaders. We know that unique backgrounds, voices, and perspectives are what make communities like Neo special. Maintaining a diverse community requires sustained effort. It’s also what helps us attract and evaluate a wide variety of investment opportunities and invest in the best. I hope some examples of our efforts will inspire others in the startup ecosystem:

Reduce bias in technical evaluation. High-pressure coding interviews introduce bias and are a big reason for the industry’s lack of diversity. In 2021 we advanced a more sophisticated technical interview process where you choose how you’re assessed. This approach is inclusive while still rigorous, and is part of how we select Neo Scholars. We advocate this philosophy to other companies, and many tech leaders have amplified it.

Help others overcome imposter syndrome. Our firm is named “Neo” after a movie character who overcomes imposter syndrome with the help of a diverse set of mentors. We invest our time to meet with communities of Black, Latino, and female engineers – from interactive workshops to 1:1 mentoring – to encourage them towards entrepreneurship and let them know they belong at Neo. Something I’ve personally undertaken is to tweet regularly about my worst mistakes as a startup founder, and I recently started sharing my weekly fail stories on TikTok. Showing vulnerability gives others courage to be less afraid of failing.

Elevate role models. A single role model can inspire a person to overcome doubts and aim higher. We have a diverse team, including our extended group of world-class mentors. Our events showcase a wide spectrum of leaders from the tech industry and beyond. Here’s a representative sampling of past Neo speakers:

Engage in public discourse & philanthropic support. We’ve donated hundreds of thousands of dollars (more than 12% of our payroll) to nonprofits such as ColorStack, which supports underrepresented engineers, and to charities fighting racial injustice in the US. We speak out on topics such as U.S. immigration and racism and sexual assault. This helps make our community an environment where different people feel safe engaging in dialogue on difficult topics.

Invest in tech education. The tech industry can and should help improve tech education. I helped my brother Hadi fund and launch Code.org, which has increased the penetration of Computer Science in the K-12 curriculum from 10% to almost 60% of U.S. public schools. Today, tens of millions of kids worldwide are learning CS on Code.org; almost half of them are young women, and half are Black, Latino, or from other underrepresented groups. Every tech leader can help advance this work: donate to Code.org.

Thanks to intentional effort, Neo has flourished as a community that’s authentically diverse. This means our investment team sees more varied deal flow; we relate with a wider range of founders and evaluate them more fairly; and we win deals.

We’ve only just begun, and we can do more. Here’s to the next billion.