Shu Dar Yao’s Post

If data centers were a country they’d be 17th in energy consumption. And their energy needs will keep rising rapidly. ⚡️ 📈 Countries need to adopt policies of energy abundance. Those which don’t will be economically left behind. https://lnkd.in/er9GRuQW

Such a treat to share the stage with Lisha Bell of PayPal, Kelli Fontaine of Cendana Capital and Christa Williams of Cherryrock Capital for a timely conversation on how institutional LPs are investing in emerging fund managers. Thank you Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center for hosting an excellent summit! The authenticity, passion, and energy among the 180 participants fueled my optimism that together we will drive the change we want to see in the investment industry. Kudos to IIE.VC for empowering emerging fund managers to raise an additional $6 Billion+ leveraging the U.S. Department of the Treasury $10 Billion State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). 📣 💰 If you are curious why these resources and collaboration are so crucial, it’s because the status quo remains dismal. Of the $82 TRILLION of assets under management in the US, only 1.4% are managed by minority or women owned firms (source: Knight Foundation Study). Within the private equity asset class, only 4.5% of AUM is managed by minority owned firms and 1.6% of AUM is women-owned. Further, less than 2% of venture capital is invested into women and BIPOC-owned startups. �� As investors know, overlooked and underfunded markets present outsized opportunities for alpha. Tremendous opportunities exist to fund innovative and diverse fund managers who are investing in entrepreneurs solving huge unmet market needs across health, education, financial services, future of work, climate and more. Proud of the work we are doing at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support equitable access to opportunity and close the racial wealth gap. 🙌 🎉 On a personal note, I was thrilled to realize that I was speaking on an *ALL WOMEN* panel! A dynamic so rare it’s the first time in my 20 years as an investor that I have been part of a 100% women panel. So refreshing in a world where the norm is often one woman speaker or all male “manels” 🙄 Here’s to changing the status quo with more panels like yesterday, please!! Amazing work Jessica Straus Fuchs! Photo credit Ashley Balla 📸

Last week, I had the great honor of being recognized, alongside my colleagues, for our work on SB 54, a California State law signed into law in the Fall of 2023 that will require all venture capital funds who are domiciled in CA, do business in CA, or who take CA public funds to report the diversity statistics among the founders in their portfolio. The data is staggering. When it comes to over $300 Billion in venture capital dollars invested, 📌 Less than 2% is invested into all women founded teams 📌 Less than 0.5% is invested into all Black founded teams Not sure what systemic bias looks like? This is it. At this rate, we risk creating even larger socio-economic fissures threatening equal access and generational wealth opportunities. 🔷 At Pyrium, our mission is to diversify both the investor and entrepreneurial pools by allowing any entrepreneur to raise capital from their communities and for any person to be an angel investor into companies they believe in. 🔷 At the F5 Collective, we are on a mission to back more female founders in the APAC region. Through our work, we hope to inspire the industry to be more conscious about how their participation influences equitable access to capital and the ecosystem they choose to create. 🎉 I'd like to extend a huge congratulations to the SB 54 team whom this bill could not be possible without: Allison Byers, Divya Reddy, Tracey Warren, Derek Ali, Kelly Kimball, Senator Nancy Skinner, and Senator Toni Atkins. Would you like to get involved? Please DM me! 📫