VC 414 launched at the start of the year with one mission in mind: to help underrepresented founders grow their businesses and create generational wealth. Founded by venture capitalist and angel investor Jennifer Abele and former BMO Harris executive Raquel Filmanowicz, the city’s newest early-stage venture capital firm is the product of several years of personal interest in helping founders who are often overlooked for VC funding, including women, people of color, veterans and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Abele, who is married to former Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and has spent the bulk of her career in the realms of government and higher education, became interested in entrepreneurship and venture capitalism later in life. She has made several private investments, including backing Milwaukee-based COnovate Inc. and Milwaukee-based Xena Workwear. Filmanowicz, who spent 11 years at BMO Harris Bank in roles involving corporate philanthropy, commercial lending and venture investment, also developed a passion for entrepreneurship later in life. BizTimes Milwaukee reporter Ashley Smart recently sat down with Abele and Filmanowicz to discuss the founding of VC 414 and their goals for the firm. Below are portions of the interview, edited for length and clarity:
What sparked your passion for venture capitalism?
Abele: “In serving disadvantaged communities and looking at how we can build economic prosperity, we realized to truly make an impact, we needed to go further upstream and give people the tools to build wealth, to build their own economic prosperity.”
Filmanowicz: “Getting a chance to get to know these entrepreneurs and understanding their journey was so rewarding and really touched my heart. I was like, ‘I want to do more. I want to go deeper and help them grow and scale and be successful.’”
How did you solidify what VC 414’s mission and priorities would be?
Filmanowicz: “We both knew that we wanted to establish a firm that supported women and underrepresented founders, so straight out of the gate we were set on that. Our careers have varied in so many areas that to pinpoint it to a specific industry or sector would be doing us a disservice, especially since we’re kind of narrowing the funnel as far as who we want to invest in. We decided to be industry agnostic to be able to look at all kinds of deals. Jennifer has so much experience in higher ed and utilities, and me, I’m the finance and the banking. We also knew we would bring on a set of advisors that would be industry experts. We have a deep bench.”
Abele: “There articles kept coming across my desk about how women were only getting 2% of venture capital despite it being record-breaking years in terms of venture capital being put out there. And then you see Black and Latinx founders just being sorely underfunded. The data is out there. It’s very clear.
“Meanwhile, there’s data on the other side that shows women-led companies have higher performance and it’s the same with diverse teams. The more we talked about it, we realized this mission is actually data driven. Why wouldn’t we want to put funds behind companies that show better results?”
What makes this new partnership so special?
Abele: “We believe that (Raquel) is the first Latina general partner in a venture capital firm in Wisconsin. In the United States, there are less than 30. This is actually a really big deal that she’s half-owner of this company. It’s pretty groundbreaking.”
Filmanowicz: “We have a really great team that brings a lot to the table. We’re looking to change the face of venture capital. Part of our tagline is venture with a conscience. We want to support these underrepresented founders in every aspect that they need.”
What goes into starting a venture capital firm?
Abele: “I think starting a venture capital firm has some similar things to starting any company. I feel from that perspective, we can relate to a lot of founders that come through the door. We’ve been through a lot of those steps now ourselves. It includes creating a financial model, a performa for the company, hiring human resources and legal. Legal for venture capital is very complex. Then there’s, of course, thinking about marketing and all your different tech. A lot of the standard buckets you think about.”
Filmanowicz: “Being an institutional investor, it was helpful to have that experience as far as what institutions look for when they’re considering investing in a firm. It was just taking that experience from the bank and using it to inform our process as far as pitching, our decks and all of that.”
Is there a timeline for when VC 414 will make its first investments?
Abele: “I think you’ll see announcements from us in Q2 (of 2023).”
How did your past experiences prepare you for leading VC 414?
Filmanowicz: “My background had mostly been in philanthropy on behalf of (BMO). I spent eight years making grants and investments on behalf of the bank to nonprofits. I always thought that was my passion and what I wanted to do, but after I moved into a commercial lending role, it made me realize if people knew how to establish a company and create generational wealth to keep them from falling into dire situations, that’s the solution to so many problems. I feel like this chapter of my life is just an evolution of my commitment to communities and helping Black and brown folks uplift themselves.”
Abele: “I think for me, over the course of my career, I’ve led and empowered a lot of different teams. Something that was consistent through those experiences was I was heavily involved in the initiation of a project, getting it off the ground and then stepping away and allowing somebody else to execute that. As a result of that experience, I feel like I have a knack for identifying peoples’ skills as it relates to successfully getting something off the ground. That’s really relevant when you’re evaluating an entrepreneur’s ability to get the job done.”
What’s your long-term goal for VC 414?
Filmanowicz: “We’re looking to build something for a really long time. When Jennifer and I were thinking about starting VC 414, we did talk to a lot of key female leaders. They’d say something like, ‘I’ve always been interested in venture (capital) but I don’t understand the mechanics, and I want to learn more.’ That was such a recurring theme that I told Jennifer VC 414 should be a vehicle by which we educate people as well. The more we can equip women to make decisions about investing and the future, I think we will help change a lot of dynamics.”
Abele: “We want to de-mystify venture for people and engage more people in it. That’s how we build the ecosystem in Milwaukee.”
