Gold House Debuts $30 Million Fund to Boost AAPI Leadership

In 2018, Harvard Business Review called Asian Americans the "forgotten minority" when it came to in-depth conversations about inclusion in leadership, noting that many diversity reports from top Silicon Valley companies either lumped them with larger groups or failed to address them at all. When they were present in reports, the data confirmed that they were the least likely to be promoted to leadership despite having a large presence in the work force. Gold House, a nonprofit collective of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) leaders working towards socioeconomic equity, aims to shatter the glass ceiling preventing people of API descent from excelling in the work force through intentional investments and resources. In that spirit, the group announced a new initiative called Gold House Ventures, an extensive $30 million investment fund that will directly invest in API business founders. Supporting founders from the API community with Gold House Ventures is a responsibility and privilege as we continue to enrich our lives by empowering others.Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live "Our movement began by reshaping public opinion through film and TV consultation, delivering successful opening weekends and winning awards seasons, because what we see on screen alters what we believe," said Bing Chen, president and co-founder of Gold House and general partner of Gold House Ventures. "Now, it’s time to ensure that what we believe is who we can become—not just for the API community but for all communities through equitable hiring, multicultural consumer engagement and collective economic success.” Gold House Ventures will also amplify portfolio companies through incubation programs alongside its accelerator Gold Rush, which provides extensive marketing and talent recruitment support for burgeoning leaders. Publicis Groupe's Helen Lin is one of the individual investors supporting Gold House Ventures. A new investment network Gold House Ventures is made possible thanks to a heavy roster of influential investors, including API founders and executives at brands like Binance Labs, YouTube, Twitch, DoorDash, Credit Karma, Zuora, Zola, FiscalNote, Honey, Guitar Hero, MyFitnessPal, XO Groupe, Opendoor, GOAT, NYX and Crunchyroll. The list also includes C-suite investors such as Ancestry's Deborah Liu, Sephora's Deborah Yeh, East West Bank's Dominic Ng, Shiva Rajaraman of OpenSea and Helen Lin of Publicis Groupe. Rounding out the list is a bevy of famous individual investors like Padma Lakshmi, Grammy-winning musician Anderson .Paak, Saturday Night Live's Bowen Yang, actors Daniel Dae Kim and Gemma Chan, Olympic champion Nathan Chen and many more. “One of the highest compliments any artist can receive is: 'I’ve never seen anything like this before,'" said comedian Yang in a statement to Adweek. "Uniqueness is more than just a creative or cultural imperative, though—it brings commercial opportunities as well. Supporting founders from the API community with Gold House Ventures is a responsibility and privilege as we continue to enrich our lives by empowering others.” The group has also landed a winding list of investing partners that includes Alley Corp, Bain Capital, Goodwater, Mayfield, NEA and others. Gold House Ventures' wide network of investors will serve as a ready source of potential capital for burgeoning API leaders. "Gold House Ventures is the next logical step on this path where the economic and cultural influence of the AAPI community can give back to the next generation, so they can succeed above and beyond where we are today," said Marvin Chow, investor and Google's vp of global marketing, to Adweek. "This cyclical journey of inspiration, influence and support is critical to raising up our community. I'm honored to be a part of this effort and the journey." How Marvin Chow's Efforts Made Google an Authority in Purpose Marketing

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Gold House Debuts Multimillion-Dollar Fund to Promote Asian and Pacific Islander Leadership

Gold House Ventures includes a winding roster of brand leaders and investors fighting for socioeconomic equity

Shannon Miller

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Shannon Miller