https://www.usv.com/writing/2023/06/the-historic-fund/

We are proud to announce our participation in the Historic Fund, a new initiative supporting HBCUs in the United States. We have invited a number of HBCUs to be limited partners in venture capital funds without having to invest their own capital. Instead, the Historic Fund will use capital provided by the individual partners of the participating venture capital firms. We believe that the Historic Fund will broaden access to this asset class and improve the lives of students.

The Historic Fund will initially partner with the following institutions: Benedict College, Bennett College, Fisk University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Morehouse College, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. The schools will participate as traditional limited partners in a venture capital fund, and will be free to use the returns as they wish. We hope, and expect, that the number of partner institutions will increase over time.

We are pleased to be joined in this effort by our fellow participating venture capital firms Acrew Capital, B Capital, Cowboy Ventures, FirstMark Capital, First Close Partners, First Round Capital, Foundry, General Catalyst, and Spark Capital. If your firm would like to be involved, we encourage you to contact the executive director of the Historic Fund, Adanma Raymond (adanma@historicfund.org), for whose leadership we are grateful.

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https://www.usv.com/writing/2023/04/joining-the-venture-climate-alliance/

At USV we intend to make a meaningful contribution to solving the climate crisis. In addition to making investments from our climate funds, we are committing to track, reduce and offset emissions at both the USV and portfolio levels. To amplify our efforts, we have teamed up with other venture capital firms through a new initiative called the Venture Climate Alliance (VCA) which launches today.

The purpose of the VCA is to build a movement within the venture industry to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Member firms, including USV, will achieve net zero emissions for our operations by 2030 or sooner, and we will encourage our portfolio companies to set their own net zero targets. The VCA exists to support this collective effort.

USV is a founding member, and we are pleased to be joined by fellow founding members Prelude Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, DCVC, Energy Impact Partners, Galvanize Climate Solutions, S2G Ventures, Tiger Global, World Fund and 2150, as well as more than a dozen other firms joining us for the launch.

Membership is open to any venture capital firm that agrees to fulfill the commitments of the VCA. Visit ventureclimatealliance.org if your firm would like to become a member.

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