Gold House launches a $30 million fund to invest in tech startups founded by Asian and Pacific Islander founders

Did you know that Asian American professionals are among the least likely demographic in the U.S. to be promoted into management? Although Asian Americans account for ~30% of the total workforce in the technology space, less than 14% of executive ranks and single digits in the C-Suite and boards.

However, an estimated 16% of the top companies founded in the last decade have at least one Asian and Pacific Islander (API) founder (despite being 7% of the nation’s population) while nearly 42% of last year’s Forbes Midas list was API — underscoring an opportunity to remove the ceiling by founding companies. Now, one venture firm is on a mission to help and support to support founders and entrepreneurs of Asian descent.

Today, Gold House, the premier collective of Asian and Pacific (AP) leaders, announced the launch of a $30 million fund — Gold House Ventures — to invest in the next generation of leading Asian and Pacific Islander founders. Gold House Ventures is the first venture fund led by a nonprofit General Partnership that enables shared access across the venture ecosystem.

The fund will be used to deliver market-first social impact in corner offices. The fund will also be used to corral capital through its preeminent investor network; deliver industry-focused accelerators; provides extensive marketing and talent recruitment support, and contribute 100% of management fees and profits back to Gold House to further the nonprofit’s history-making work.

“Gold House was forged to rewrite a history that’s been handed to us. 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,” said Bing Chen, President of Gold House and General Partner of Gold House Ventures.

Gold House Ventures invests across industries and stages — always in lockstep with world-class investors. Investing partners include Accel, Alley Corp, Bain Capital, Basis Set, Bling Capital, CircleUp, Coatue, Decibel, Eniac, Floodgate, General Catalyst, GGV, Goodwater, Graph Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Juxtapose, Lightspeed, Maveron, Mayfield, NEA, Northzone, Tribe, Trinity, Upfront, Wing VC, and Xfund.

“Many iconic companies are founded and run by API entrepreneurs. We want to back the next generation of great API founders and shine a spotlight on their success to inspire more to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams,” said Eric Feng, GP of Gold House Ventures and former GP at Kleiner Perkins.

Gold House Ventures’ investors include C-suite executives of major corporations; successful API founders (Binance Labs, YouTube, Twitch, DoorDash, Credit Karma, Zuora, Zola, FiscalNote, Honey, GOAT, and more); and cultural leaders with business success such as lifestyle icons Eva Chen, Michelle Phan, Padma Lakshmi, and Prabal Gurung; Grammy-winning musicians Anderson Paak, Agnez Mo, Dumbfoundead, and Transparent Arts; artists Bowen Yang, Daniel Dae Kim, Gemma Chan, and Ronny Chieng.

Gold House has a long history of supporting diverse entrepreneurs through the leading API founder network, marketing benefits via extensive media and entertainment partnerships, and accelerators like Gold Rush (the preeminent API founder accelerator), — whose new, biannual class also debuts today.

“Since Gold Rush launched three years ago, alums have raised over $370 million in follow-on funding, with women representing over half of our participants and the ethnic diversity of each cohort reflecting API representation in the U.S.,” said Megan Ruan, GP of Gold House Ventures.