Black-owned Latimer Ventures closes $15 million for Black and Brown tech founders’ fund

Baltimore-based Latimer Ventures, a Black-owned, early stage venture capital firm, recently announced a close of US$15 million for its fund launched exclusively for Black and Brown technology founders. In total, Latimer Ventures intends to raise US$50 million for the fund.

The mission of the company is to deploy capital to minority enterprise technology companies and connect them with corporate acquirers to achieve eight- to 10-figure business exits. Notable investors in the first round included Dug Song, cofounder of Duo, and Martin Nesbitt, co-CEO of the Vistria Group.

“I’m excited about tech because 50 percent of all new wealth will come from tech entrepreneurship,” said Luke Cooper, founder of Latimer Ventures. “I get to go create that for tons and tons of founders who look like me.”

Cooper, was inspired to create Latimer Ventures after selling his mobile device support and repair company, Fixt, in 2020. After attaining 300 percent year-over-year growth and raising US$6.5 million in capital, he hit a wall.

He created Latimer Ventures in January 2022 to spur better outcomes for Black-owned enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups.