Firms & Funds

Wellington targets diverse founders with early-stage fund

The new $150m fund 'sees a unique opportunity for value creation and return potential among founders who have been historically underrepresented and overlooked,' the firm says.

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Trillion-dollar asset manager Wellington Management has closed on $150 million for a new early-stage venture fund focused on underrepresented founders.

Investors in Wellington Venture Investments I include insurance companies, healthcare companies, state pension plans, international banks, foundations and family offices.

Photo of Wellington Access Ventures team members Frederik Groce and Sasha McKenzie, Jackson Cummings and Van Jones.
WAV team members, from left: Frederik Groce and Sasha McKenzie, Jackson Cummings and Van Jones.

The fund is part of Wellington’s Private Investing platform, which manages more than $8 billion invested across geographies including Asia, Europe and North America and multiple sectors, including consumer, technology, healthcare, financial services, biotechnology and climate technology.

This is not Wellington’s first foray into venture capital. It has made 237 VC investments and achieved 111 exits from investments in Coinbase, Moderna, Peloton, Pinterest and Slack, among others, according to Crunchbase.

Wellington Venture Investments I is managed by Wellington Access Ventures, the firm’s early-stage venture team, which is led by Jackson Cummings and includes Frederik Groce, Sasha McKenzie and Van Jones.

WAV “sees a unique opportunity for value creation and return potential among founders who have been historically underrepresented and overlooked in the venture capital space, predominantly focusing on finding and supporting talented Black, Latine and women entrepreneurs, among others,” Wellington said in a statement.

It noted that WAV “has already made numerous investments in diverse founder-led companies, focused on businesses with the potential to become leaders in large or growing markets. Sectors identified by the WAV team include artificial intelligence, DevOps, infrastructure, fintech, digital health and consumer technology with a focus on cultural and demographic shifts. In addition, as part of their investment strategy the WAV team will partner with other diverse-led emerging fund managers to further strengthen and grow the venture ecosystem.”

Based in Boston, Wellington serves more than 2,500 clients in over 60 countries and manages more than $1.1 trillion for pensions, endowments/foundations, insurers, family offices, fund sponsors wealth managers and others.