Overlooked Ventures, a Columbus, Ohio-based firm, announced an initial investment by Bank of America to help advance capital investments in businesses established by historically ignored entrepreneurs. The bank’s support is part of its commitment to invest $350 million in minority-focused funds to support minority entrepreneurs.
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Founded in May 2021, Overlooked Ventures is led by General Partners, Janine Sickmeyer and Brandon Brooks, and focuses on investing in diverse founding startup teams whose companies are comprised of one or more historically ignored founder(s). The company has already established Fund I, a $50MM fund investing in industry-agnostic startups in tech/tech-enabled companies at the pre-seed/seed stage.
“Overlooked Ventures is honored to have received our first institutional check from Bank of America, a financial institution that has and continues to make such a positive impact to advance minority groups. We admire the bank’s commitment to underserved communities and its support of Overlooked Ventures, a firm led by first-time fund managers,” said Janine Sickmeyer, Founding and General Partner at Overlooked Ventures, Janine Sickmeyer.
Overlooked Ventures is classified as a 506(c) and has invested in eight companies across six industries including Fintech, Mobility Tech, Femtech, and Age Tech. The portfolio has the following diversity breakdown: 42% Black, 16% Hispanic-Latino, and the remaining 42% are Indian, Iranian, Syrian, and Ashkenazi Jew. Investments include:
- Blooming Health — New York, NY.
- CarpeDM — Washington, D.C.
- College Cash — Dallas, TX.
- Femly — Baltimore, MD.
- Govalo — Atlanta, GA. and Palo Alto, CA.
- Lalo — Seattle, WA.
- Moment.ai — Washington, D.C.
- The Difference — New York, NY.
Bank of America is joining Overlooked Ventures as the firm’s first institutional investor.
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“Bank of America’s equity investment in Overlooked Ventures reinforces our ongoing efforts to address the continual gap in access to capital and to deploy more into emerging companies led by diverse entrepreneurs,” said Kelly D’Ambrosia, President, Bank of America Columbus. “Access to capital is key to participation in economic growth and wealth creation, and Overlooked Ventures is uniquely positioned to provide funding and make introductions for underrepresented fund managers and founders.”
Investments like the one made to Overlooked Ventures are one component of Bank of America’s $1.25 billion commitment to advance racial and ethnic equality, and create economic opportunity. As part of its broader commitment, Bank of America made a $350 million commitment to support minority and women-led companies through capital investments in mission-focused venture funds. In just over one year, more than $300 million of that funding has been committed across 100+ minority-focused and minority-led equity funds.
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