Will Smith and Kevin Durant are reportedly backing a brand-new Andreeseen Horowitz fund aimed at black celebrities

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Will Smith and Kevin Durant are reportedly backing a brand-new Andreeseen Horowitz fund aimed at black celebrities

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  • Andreessen Horowitz is launching a new $15 million venture fund backed by black celebrities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
  • Will Smith, Kevin Durant, and Sundial Brands CEO Richelieu Dennis have reportedly already signed on as limited partners to the fund.
  • Andreeseen Horowitz will reportedly donate investment returns toward nonprofits that aim to spur the black community's engagement in tech.

Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has launched a new fund that will partner exclusively with black celebrities, athletes, and media figures, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Already, the firm has secured high-profile backing from actor Will Smith, NBA star Kevin Durant, and the founder of men's beauty line Sundial Richelieu Dennis, the Journal reports.

The $15 million fund, which will reportedly operate alongside Andreessen Horowitz's $1.5 billion fund, won't function like a traditional venture fund; instead, investment returns will go towards nonprofits that aim to spur the black community's engagement in tech.

Andreessen Horowitz's new fund is just one among a growing movement in venture capital to diversify the industry's overwhelming white and male demographic. In May, Backstage Capital launched a $36 million fund to invest exclusively in businesses backed by black female founders.

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Read the full story over at the Wall Street Journal.

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