Illumen Capital partners with institutional investors to back the next generation of diverse-led venture and private equity managers.
We believe an inclusive and optimal asset management industry will be the cornerstone of an equitable future.
We are research-backed investors.
Before we ever closed our first fund, we published research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) alongside Stanford SPARQ offering evidence that race influences the decision making of professional investors*.
Simply put, our research suggested that asset allocators have a systematic preference for high-performing White-led funds when compared to high-performing Black-led funds. Surprisingly, this bias increased at higher levels of performance for Black-led funds, which were rated more harshly using criteria such as skills, competence and social fit.*
Given these findings, investors may be completely missing out – unknowingly – on many high-quality investment opportunities.
*Race influences professional investors financial judgments; Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (2019)
Racial and gender bias not only lead to inequitable outcomes, but we are convinced that bias inhibits optimal financial performance.
We are thesis-driven investors.
We have a basic thesis: racial and gender disparities in asset management are not only inequitable, but can lead to suboptimal performance.
We believe by reducing racial and gender bias in how investments are allocated, we can help drive capital to founders and entrepreneurs long overlooked and underestimated – and unlock stronger financial performance.
Illumen Capital’s portfolio is…
4x venture benchmarks for inclusion of underrepresented partners of color
(VC Human Capital Survey, 2022, NVCA)
5x venture benchmarks for inclusion of underrepresented women of color
(VC Human Capital Survey, 2022, NVCA)
100% of Illumen Capital portfolio firms are led by people of color and/or women partners
(Illumen Capital data as of 12/31/2023)
Our differentiated strategy combines investment capital with evidence-based tools to help our fund managers actively reduce racial and gender bias.
We invest in venture, growth, and private equity funds, and then work closely with fund managers to implement and install IllumenIQ™, a web-based software providing educational training programs, strategies, and tools designed to reduce racial and gender bias in the hiring, investment, and company support processes. We select managers investing in one or more of the following themes:
EDUCATION
FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY
HEALTH &
WELLNESS
INCLUSIVE
SYSTEMS
This research-informed bias reduction program – supported by a strategic relationship with Stanford SPARQ – empowers fund managers to expand their investable landscape and better support entrepreneurs who have historically been overlooked and underestimated.
2023 Annual Impact Report Executive Summary
We are returns-focused investors.
We at Illumen Capital are big believers in the “diversity dividend” – the growing body of evidence that suggests diverse teams outperform homogenous teams.
Illumen Capital is an institutional investor seeking to back high-performing managers with the potential for top-decile and top-quartile performance. By working closely with every manager in our portfolio to reduce racial and gender bias, we strive to help our managers unlock stronger returns.
Greater representation of Black, Indigenous and people of color in management is tied to higher cash flow, net profit, three- and five-year revenue, five-year return on equity (ROE) and stock performance.
Companies with more racial diversity experienced a 33 percent increase in likelihood of out-performance on operating margin.
Delivering Through Diversity McKinsey & Company (2018)
Gender diverse fund management teams deliver an incremental 10-20 percent in net IRR returns compared to non-gender diverse teams.
Moving Toward Gender Balance in PE and VC; IFC (2019)
We are a highly-diverse team with over 75 combined years of investment, operating, and impact management experience.
