The black and brown athlete-led venture capital fund adds tech and consumer products to its final portfolio after a very successful year

UNITED STATES, February 24, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Broad Street Ventures (BSV), the first athlete-led venture capital fund fully funded by black and brown investors, announced today that India Robinson (Malcolm Inc chief marketing officer and co-founder of Listen Up Media) and Sara “Lovestyle” Hood (lifestyle entrepreneur, tech investor and media personality) are new investors in the fund, joining co-founder Malcolm Jenkins (2x Super Bowl Champion, New Orleans Saints) among other NFL players and industry leaders. BSV also announced its final slate of new early, growth and late stage tech and consumer products to its investment portfolio, including Instacart, Heliogen and Papa.

Mr. Jenkins and Ralonda Johnson, CIO of Malcolm Inc and BSV co-founder & general partner, along with a team of advisors manage BSV’s $10 million vehicle. Their investment portfolio includes companies like Airbnb, Epic Games, Turo, NoBull, Automattic, Udemy, Dapper Labs, Therabody (Theragun), Preziba (Signos), Instacart, Papa and ZenWtr.

“Ralonda and I created Broad Street Ventures to provide black and brown athletes, entertainers and industry leaders with the opportunity to invest alongside the top 20 VC’s. We achieved our goals, as our fund has seen exponential returns on the tech and CPG companies since BSV’s inception, and we’re excited to offer a proven concept to industry leaders like India and Sara, while working on BSV’s next fund offerings,” said Jenkins.

Johnson said it’s exceptionally exciting since their goal was to offer access to deals that typically aren’t offered to black and brown investors “Our investors in Broad Street Ventures are excited to see our portfolio thrive in the past year, with Airbnb’s and Heliogen’s recent IPOs, Dapper Labs’ expansion of sports partnerships, NoBull’s valuation after 2021’s Series B round, Epic Games’ valuation after a $1 billion raise in new funding, ZenWtr’s growth in revenue, Udemy’s filing to go public in October 2021 and Turo’s filing for an initial IPO in January 2022,” said Johnson.

Other Broad Street Ventures investors include three-time Super Bowl Champion Devin McCourty (New England Patriots), Super Bowl Champion Jason McCourty (Miami Dolphins), Jordan Matthews (San Francisco 49ers), Super Bowl Champion Rodney McLeod (Philadelphia Eagles), three-time Super Bowl Champion Duron Harmon (Atlanta Falcons), Super Bowl Champion Jacoby Brissett (Miami Dolphins), Sharrie Williams (television broadcaster) and Ralonda Johnson (Malcolm, Inc) among others who chose not to be disclosed.

Broad Street Ventures has provided added value through hosting virtual seminars for prospective and current investors to educate them about venture capital entry, angel investing, risk capital and emerging areas, among others. April is financial literacy month and BSV plans to host at least two virtual seminars for prospective athletes, entertainers and industry leader investors.

INDIA ROBINSON, CMO, MALCOLM INC; CO-FOUNDER, LISTEN UP MEDIA
“The investment opportunity with Broad Street Ventures is perfect for me both professionally and personally, professionally because I am an advocate of group economics and love working with my trusted partners given my professional relationships with Malcolm, Ralonda, and Rodney. Personally, I’m focused on legacy and building generational wealth and the choices and decisions I make now will ensure the strength of both.”
SARA LOVESTYLE, CEO, BELAY & BELL; TECH INVESTOR, MEDIA PERSONALITY
“The financial wealth gap for people of color, especially for black women, is undoubtedly high. As a black female investor, I’m typically left out of deals that garner true generational wealth. Joining Broad Street Ventures gives me the opportunity to gain access to the best deals along with the ability to educate other brown and black investors to not only expand their basic knowledge of financial literacy, but hopefully open the door for more to join.”

ABOUT BROAD STREET VENTURES
Broad Street Ventures, co-founded by General Partner Ralonda Johnson and two-time Super Bowl Champion Malcolm Jenkins in October 2020, is a $10 million investment vehicle funded entirely by Black and Brown investors including a small group of fellow NFL players. Broad Street Ventures focuses on early, growth and late stage investments in consumer products and tech companies. The fund is being professionally managed by Johnson and Jenkins along with a team of strategic advisors. Broad Street Ventures is based in New Jersey.

ABOUT MALCOLM INC
Malcolm Inc. is the holding company for two-time Super Bowl Champion and three-time Pro Bowl Safety Malcolm Jenkins’ off the field business portfolio, philanthropic and brand partnerships with a diverse and robust roster of companies in Media, Tech, Apparel, Restaurants, Real Estate and Education. Collectively, the executive team brings over 65 years of operational, entertainment, philanthropic and investment experience. The slate of companies in Jenkins’ portfolio include LISTEN UP MEDIA, a multimedia production company with the mission to showcase and distribute content that creates social awareness around systemic issues in society; BROAD STREET VENTURES, a $10 million investment vehicle funded entirely by Black and Brown investors including a group of fellow NFL players; DISRUPT FOODS, a multi-unit franchise developer and operator of 20+ quick service restaurants aiming to level the economic playing field for blacks and hispanics through Franchise Ownership; DISRUPT SPORTS PARTNERS, an investment vehicle focused on business ventures in sports and leagues; E&R REAL ESTATE GROUP to expand black ownership of land and real estate across the U.S., and DAMARI, a custom clothing company including ready-to-wear and made-to-measure men’s suits and THE MALCOLM JENKINS FOUNDATION, a 501(c)3 public charity founded in 2010 by Jenkins with a mission to effect positive change in the lives of youth in underserved communities. For more information, visit https://malcolminc.com/.

Kristi Roehm
8 Degrees
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