Backstage Capital's mission is to fund startups led by underrepresented entrepreneurs. Founder and Managing Partner Arlan Hamilton explains: "We invest in top-tier founders who identify as women, people of color, or LGBTQ+ in the United States. I personally identify with all three."
General Partner Christie Pitts shares insights on the Los Angeles-based firm's origins. Working in the music industry, Hamilton connected with investors and entrepreneurs. She observed a stark bias: "Founders got meetings if they fit a certain profile or attended elite schools like Stanford or MIT. But a Black woman from the same schools? No meeting."
Hamilton also saw huge potential: These founders, with limited resources, offered exceptional returns on investment.
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While at Verizon Ventures, Pitts encountered Backstage and saw alignment with Verizon's diversity goals. Though that didn't pan out, she joined part-time, then full-time in August 2017.
"Our portfolio companies are performing strongly," Pitts notes, praising founders' resourcefulness and creativity. "They receive less funding than peers, so they innovate to succeed." Backstage's portfolio: 80% people of color, 68% women, 52% women of color, 13% LGBTQ+—far above industry averages.
Interviewing founders while fundraising has deepened partners' empathy. "We know the struggle of big ideas without capital," Pitts says. Hamilton launched Backstage without a safety net, even facing homelessness.
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Dawn Dickson, African-American serial entrepreneur and CEO of Flat Out of Heels and PopCom in Columbus, Ohio, exemplifies Backstage's investments.
Dickson urges women entrepreneurs to leverage unique strengths: seeing opportunities differently, building holistic connections, and leading with compassion over transactions.
In 2011, in South Florida, she invented Flat Out of Heels after seeing women ditch high heels post-galas. "I wanted vending machines at pain points like nightclubs, airports, and venues," she says. Customizing dispensers led to PopCom (pop-up commerce) in 2012.
Needing advanced hardware-software for credit cards, inventory tracking, AI, and facial recognition—plus future regulated products like alcohol or cannabis—Dickson sought funding. An investor connected her to Hamilton. Backstage invested $95,000, enabling inventory, marketing for Flat Out, and patented tech for PopCom.
Her first smart kiosk beta-tested at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Mass production starts soon, with partners lining up.
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This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of LadiesBelle I/O magazine.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACK ENTERPRISE
