Monique Woodard Leaving 500 Startups

1/18/18

Monique Woodard, the first first African-American venture partner on the staff at 500 Startups, announced she is leaving the firm. Woodard joined 500 Startups less than two years ago when it announced it would raise a fund to invest in startups headed by black and Latino entrepreneurs.

Woodard, co-founder of Black Founders, a national organization that aims to increase the number of black entrepreneurs in tech, said in a Medium post that she plans to remain in venture and continue to invest. During her time at 500 Startups, she said she invested in or mentored such companies as Blavity, Silvernest, GovList and UrbanLogiq, among others. She also is an angel investor in Mented Cosmetics?, ?a direct to consumer beauty brand for women of color.

She did not disclose why she was leaving although she credited co-founders Dave McClure (who has since left over allegations of sexual harassment) and Christine Tsai for “creating a place that hired women investors long before it was the thing to do to hire a female partner and for investing in women and minority founders long before it was an industry-wide point of discussion.”

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