Serena Williams’ Secret Investment Fund

Published On April 24, 2019 | By Tom Huskerson | News and Analysis

Serena Ventures, an investment fund that was a secret until this week was founded in 2014. The secret was revealed by an Instagram post. Williams has backed 30 companies in e-commerce, fashion and social good.

Writing about the company Williams said she is backing companies “that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity and opportunity.”

Serena Ventures has invested in African start up Andela. The company has a diverse team of co-founders and executives including local lead directors in countries where it operates. Andela offers a highly selective program that brings in aspiring African developers. The program has an admission rate of only one percent. It trains them to become globally competitive and outsources them to companies worldwide in need of development talent.

Along with Andela, Serena Ventures also backed Coinbase, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, Masterclass, an online learning platform and Wave, a remittance service that’s available in five African nations.

Serena Ventures also participated in one of the largest ever single fundraising rounds by an African-focused tech company totaling $180 million.

Breaking It Down

God Bless Serena Williams! One of the greatest sources of precious materials is Africa. And there is no more precious material than intellectual talent. Serena has invested in diversity and the up and coming tech environment in Africa. Andela has seen that there is incredible strength and intelligence in diversity and ignoring an entire continent is simply stupid. Too many companies go into Africa with the intent of enriching themselves and not offering the people much of anything. But the brain power is there. By selecting the best and brightest Serena is planting the seed of a new future for the African continent. Yes, there are other black artists and entrepreneurs investing in Africa and we applaud them as well. So we thank Serena Ventures and ask one question; why the secrecy?

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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