Meena Harris, VP Kamala Harris’ niece, is officially an investor.
According to TechCrunch, Harris partnered with Helen Min to launch Phenomenal Ventures, a venture firm.
The firm has already closed a $6 million early-stage investment.
Meena Harris Has Earned Her Success
Harris isn’t just the Vice President’s niece.
The lawyer and entrepreneur made an activist t-shirt brand, Phenomenal.
Phenomenal started with merchandising but expanded to media and entertainment.
Harris plans to inject her determination and skills into Phenomenal Ventures.
Harris has partnered with Helen Min, the former head of marketing at Plaid, AngelList, and other brands to achieve that goal.
Harris and Min met at Facebook as colleagues.
They became best friends and tech operators, sharing notes on angel investing, grad school, and more.
In 2021, they thought of starting a VC firm.
Phenomenal Ventures Is Off To A Bright Start
Meena Harris’ new VC firm has started in the best way possible.
The firm has already secured $6 million in funding from companies like:
- Slow Ventures
- Tribe Capital
- 776
Investors also included founders of prominent brands like Pinterest, Quora, and Dropbox.
With funding from such big names, Meena Harris’ VC firm is already gaining considerable interest in the investment world.
Phenomenal Ventures is also on track to participate in pre-seed to Series A investment rounds, with check sizes from $100,000 to $500,000.
In addition, Phenomenal Ventures has made Zabreen Khan a partner–Khan started investing at Lead Edge Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Phenomenal Ventures’ Goals
So far, Meena Harris’ VC firm has invested in thirteen companies–nine of them have underrepresented founders.
“Every company that Meena and I have worked for — as startup employees at Facebook, Slack, Dropbox, Uber, Plaid, Quora, AngelList, they are literally all by non-underrepresented founders.” Helen Min
Phenomenal Ventures couldn’t have launched at a more crucial time.
Funding for startups with female founders has dropped, even though money is still available for investment.
However, Black women founders are getting the short end of the stick–something Harris notes.
Harris wants her firm to have a positive impact on the tech industry.
At the company’s growth rate, Phenomenal Ventures looks sure to change the tech industry–especially for minority founders.
Welcome to our latest 776 Titans ?@phenomenalvc’s @helen_min + @meena are bringing expertise that’s going to expand our current VC ecosystem. The 776 Titans program is backing next gen VCs that are going to redefine the industry. https://t.co/4xhoVxmTsS
— AlexisOhanian7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ (@alexisohanian) February 21, 2023
