Symphonic Capital

How can small businesses grow when they are often overlooked by banks? This is a question George Cook, a sixth-generation community banker, wanted to solve. The answer: Honeycomb Credit. 🐝 🍯 Honeycomb is a community investment platform that supports small businesses in their quest to access fair growth capital. They’re improving the odds for small businesses to thrive by enabling loans that can be borrowed directly from an entrepreneur’s own customers and community. Resources stay close to home, and business owners get solid, market-rate returns. We believe in building long-lasting institutions that work for the 99% and have a positive impact on the communities we live in and love. And we couldn’t be more excited to announce our participation in Honeycomb’s recent $6 million Seed+ funding round, as reported by Business Insider! Join our celebration in the comments! 🎉 #smbtech #smb #venturecapital

Improving access to mental healthcare isn’t just about cost savings - though they are significant. Our portfolio company, Canopie, built a preventative mental health care app for new and expecting mothers because mental health conditions were the leading cause of preventable pregnancy-related deaths in 2021. This is just one example of how cost savings and social impact often work hand-in-hand. New mothers aren’t the only population in desperate need of better mental health care solutions. If you’re building in this space, we want to talk to you. Get in touch! #mentalhealth #digitalhealth #medtech

While commuting to her Software Engineering job, Hannah Brannan used to walk by a flower shop that captured the feeling of being in a beautiful garden. She’d never cared about flower shops before, but this shop stopped her in my tracks. 🌸 She learned local farm networks had been emerging all around the country, but seriously lacked the systems that they needed to organize sales effectively. After spending months freelancing at flower shops and even owning a wedding business to deeply understand floral sourcing – Hannah launched Gather Flora , a platform that opens access for domestic flower farms to sell at scale. Hannah is laser-focused on the small business and environmental impact her platform promises (and has already made!), which is why we were thrilled to invest. Are you building new solutions that can replace the phone calls, notebooks, and analog systems that so many small business owners are hindered by? Get in touch – together, we can make something beautiful bloom. 🌷 #floralindustry #smbtech #earlystagevc

🚩 Avoid this early-stage startup red flag… … tracking too many metrics! We see so many founders overwhelmed and drowning in data. We simplify the KPI process by focusing on only four key metrics with our portfolio companies. Our Partner Shruti Shah breaks it down in this video! By shutting the noise and focusing on what matters, founders can better make strategic decisions that actually push the needle. We share more real talk on company building and navigating the venture capital ecosystem in our twice-monthly newsletter. Join our list for more insights like these! https://lnkd.in/eWb-v36F #earlystage #vc #kpis

What Jim Casselberry at Known said. 💯 🙌🏾 ⭐️  We’re so proud to count Known among our LPs. Just like us, they believe that it’s a false paradigm to assume financial returns are at odds with positive social impact. Their team is led by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American co-founders, reflecting the 99% that our portfolio companies aim to serve. Their lived experience as members of the Global Majority means that they can identify undercapitalized opportunities others miss. Thank you so much for your support, Known! #venturecapital #fintechs #digitaleconomy #preseed

There are some pretty amazing federal, municipal, and state-wide benefits programs out there, but there’s a problem with almost all of them. Government doesn’t have a marketing budget. As a result, they aren’t able to effectively market to the diverse populations they serve. Enter: Starlight. Starlight enables financial institutions to improve users’ financial health by using found money from government benefits. Using data and AI, they analyze transaction data to determine benefit eligibility, alert users, and assist them with an AI coach to complete the steps necessary to access the benefits. Our team’s lived experience in this sector - Sydney Paige Thomas’s first career was in government! - plus this fintech’s strong growth trajectory made the decision to invest very easy. Tag any other gov tech startups we should know about in the comments! #fintech #earlystage #portfoliocompany

Calling all financial experts who are passionate about shopping small and supporting local… Our portfolio company, Honeycomb Credit, is hiring a Director of Strategic Finance! The person in this role will: 🐝 Lead the development and execution of the company's financial strategy. 🐝 Manage payroll, human resources, and compliance. 🐝 Own all accounting and finance function and relationships including managing external bookkeeping and accounting resources. Does this sound like you or someone you know? If so, apply at the link below, and/or share! ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eY6QbTdE #nowhiring #financemanager #financialstrategy

The 99%. The global majority. Overlooked communities. ➡️ No matter what terminology you use, people who lack access to the benefits of wealth and health are currently concentrated among minority populations. Investing in tech that solves for those access gaps is so much more than a social impact strategy. We believe it’s fundamental to building a thriving portfolio - and we’re not the only ones! Earlier this year, our Founding General Partner Sydney Thomas joined Caroline Lewis, Managing Partner of Rogue Women's Fund, McKeever (Mac) Conwell,II, Managing Partner of RareBreed Ventures , and Yao Huang 🏳️🌈, founder of The Hatchery to discuss our strategy for investing in health and wealth for the 99%. 🎙️ Listen to the full conversation here: https://hubs.ly/Q02yR14d0 #impactinvesting #vc #earlystage

So what’s *really* going on in the VC ecosystem these days? Let’s start a conversation about it. 🎵 We’re launching a brand-new email newsletter to share our insights, advice, and unique perspectives on VC and company-building. And we want to hear from you! If you’re a founder looking to raise, an impact-driven investor looking to keep your finger on the pulse, or an ecosystem builder looking to weigh in with your two cents on what’s going on too, you’ll want to join in this discussion. Our first email drops tomorrow, so sign up today so you don’t miss a beat 👀 https://lnkd.in/eWb-v36F #venturecapital #founder #investor #ecosystembuilder

College sports generate billions of dollars in revenue. But less than 20% is returned to athletes who dedicate their bodies and time to their teams. And did you know that nearly 50% of the athletes on men’s football and basketball teams – aka the two highest revenue-generating college sports – are Black? We invested in Scout (Techstars '23) because we believe that student athletes deserve the financial wellness their platform supports. And in less than a year, Scout will be serving an even larger group of athletes receiving compensation for the first time. 🙌🏾 For the latest in student-athlete financial wellness, be sure to follow their newsletter, The Scout Report, at the link in the comments. #studentathletes #wealthgap #fintech