Costco Wholesale Commits $1 Million to Venture Capital Firm Fearless Fund to Support Women of Color Founders

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fearless Fund, the first VC fund built by women of color, for women of color, has received a $1 Million investment from Costco Wholesale Corporation (Nasdaq: COST) as a sign of support for the fund’s mission to address the disparity that exists in venture capital funding for women of color-led businesses.

Launched in 2019, Fearless Fund invests in WOC-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or series A financing. Its mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for female founders of color building scalable, growth aggressive companies. The Fearless Fund team also runs The Fearless Foundation, a 501c3 organization with a goal to educate entrepreneurs through training, reduce racial inequities, and empower African-Americans to gain access to capital, as well as the Get Ready Venture Program, a 12-month training program for WOC business owners to acquire the needed training, mentorship, knowledge, and skills needed to gain access to capital.

“This investment from Costco is an exciting addition to our fund, as it exemplifies the truth that large corporations are seeing the unmatched and undervalued potential of women of color founders, and are willing to assist in closing the gap that exists in VC funding for them,” said Arian Simone, General Partner and Co-Founder of Fearless Fund.

Costco’s investment marks a string of corporate interest in the fund, following recent investments from PayPal and Bank of America. Fearless Fund expects to continuously expand its investor base.

Currently, Fearless Fund’s portfolio includes the following founders and companies: Roshawnna Novellus of EnrichHER, Alicia Scott of Range Beauty, Angel Lenise, Montre Moore, and Phyllicia Phillips, J.D. of AMP Beauty, Tracey Pickett of HairBrella, Angela Benton of Streamlytics, and Sheena Allen of Capway. The fund has a goal to invest in over 40 WOC-founded startups in the tech, CPG, beauty and fashion industries.

“We are excited to support the Fearless Fund and applaud their efforts toward providing venture capital funding for women of color-led businesses,” said Craig Jelinek, President and CEO of Costco.

For more information on Fearless Fund, please visit www.fearless.fund.

About Fearless Fund

Fearless Fund invests in women of color led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or series A financing. Our mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies. Fearless Fund is built by women of color for women.

About Costco

Costco Wholesale currently operates 803 warehouses, including 558 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 102 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 27 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.