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On June 18th, Insight Partners hosted a digital event highlighting two investors from the Vision Capital 2020 fund to commemorate Juneteenth.
Insight Partners Managing Director, Richard Wells led the discussion with Monique Woodard and McKeever Conwell, who are investing in the future of entrepreneurship and business to drive demographic change. Their personal stories are filled with grit, determination, and passion for building a more inclusive ecosystem. These are the voices with the vision to shape a more diverse future.
Speakers:
Monique Woodard: Venture Capital Investor at Cake Ventures
Monique Woodard is the Founder and Managing Director of Cake Ventures where she invests in areas where she sees the future of technology being driven by major demographic trends. She believes that shifting demographics are creating the next big emerging markets ‒ right here in the world's most active startup ecosystem. Monique has invested in global startup ecosystems in the US and internationally. As Venture Partner at 500 Startups, she invested in early-stage companies in the US and sub-Saharan Africa. Following her time at 500 Startups, Monique became a Venture Scout at Lightspeed Venture Partners and a trusted advisor to foundations and venture capital firms like SoftBank, where she continues to advise on the Vision Fund’s Emerge program. Before moving onto the investor side of the table, Monique spent 15+ years in the startup industry as a founder and operator.
McKeever Conwell: Managing Partner at RareBreed Ventures
McKeever “Mac” Conwell II is a software engineer by trade and was a former DOD contractor with a top-secret clearance. He was a two-time founder with an exit and a failure. Next Mac moved on to the venture capital world via the Maryland Technology Development Corporation as part of their Seed Investment Team. During his four years there, Mac amassed experience leading an initiative to create the Minority Business Pre-seed Fund, the first and only, at the time, state-backed pre-seed fund for women and minorities in the country. The program institutionalized the friends and family round for black-, women-, and minority-led startups and was subsequently funded long-term by the state of Maryland. In September 2020, Mac founded RareBreed VC, a pre-seed fund that invests in exceptional founders outside of large tech ecosystems.
