How 1,000+ VCs threw support behind Kamala Harris | Shila Nieves Burney interview

More than 1,000 venture capitalists representing more than $276 billion in assets under management have signed a pledge in support of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

The VCs for Kamala group is young and it was started by venture fund founders Shila Nieves Burney of Zane Venture Fund, and Leslie Feinzaig. Their effort to get behind Harris as she squares off against Donald Trump has attracted signatories including tech luminaries Mark Cuban, Steve Wozniak, Jesse Draper, Ron Conway, Katie Stanton and Aileen Lee.

Those are some powerful people from Silicon Valley and beyond. Their goal is to elect Vice President Kamala Harris as the new president of the United States come November. Trump has powerful financiers of his own behind him, including Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

I spoke with Nieves Burney about this effort, which in some ways is surprising because VCs aren’t necessarily always thinking about politics first.

Nieves Burney is socially conscious in that she wants to support underrepresented founders through entrepreneurship and venture capital. Her reputation as a leading venture capitalist in the Southeast, coupled with her tenacity and dedication to helping minorities develop tech-enabled companies, has helped Black, Asian, Latinx, and other underrepresented founders in the tech industry raise millions of dollars in investments in less than five years.

“The future of our democracy is at stake, and equality is under attack, which undermines our professional values and threatens the social fabric of our country” she said. “We can’t help but hope and organize for the future we believe in. You can’t build businesses and create good jobs in an unstable economy with an unpredictable leader. You need stability to build prosperity.”

Nieves Burney also recently organized another petition drive, which gathered prominent VCs to condemn a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, an investment fund that’s been accused of illegally discriminating in favor of Black women. And as with her support for Harris, whom she praises for her support for entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups, it was a decision that made sense both morally and from a business perspective.

“A robust and equitable democracy is good for business,” said Feinzaig, in a statement. “I was venting on Twitter … about the state of American democracy, and reflecting on the decision my peers made to support former President Trump, when it came to me: there have to be other people in venture capital who don’t believe his style of government – and his personal beliefs – reflect their professional needs and interests.”

While Andreessen and Horowitz got a lot of attention for their defection from the Democratic party to back Trump, their fund itself has about $42 billion under management. I can’t say who really has more money behind them. But that’s a lot less than the $276 billion in funds represented by the VCs who are backing Harris. Burney plans to host a mixer in Chicago this week during the Democratic National Convention. And there will be more events in October at TechWeeks in San Francisco and Los Angeles ahead of Harris events. We’ll see how things turn out in November.

Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.

VentureBeat: How did you get started in venture capital?

Shila Nieves Burney: For three-plus years I invested in capital programs and services for large institutions. Public school systems and non-profits. I worked with the American Cancer Society, which is one of the largest non-profits in the country. Solving problems for marginalized communities. How can we provide programs and services?

I decided to pivot to venture once I started my own company in 2018. I was approached by an entrepreneur who knew my work with underrepresented communities and wanted me to support him. At the time I wasn’t in the VC community, but we quickly built the firm from the ground up. We launched the fund in 2019. I wanted to be able to help entrepreneurs from this side of the table, after working on the other side for so long. I knew there were underrepresented founders who were overlooked in VC. As much as I could, I wanted to bring them to the forefront, and the technologies they were created. That’s what I funded the firm around.

VentureBeat: Were you always based in Atlanta?

Nieves Burney: Yes, based in Atlanta, primarily focused on the southeast. It’s one of the most underfunded regions of the country, and one of the most diverse regions. Our goal was to find those companies and back them, and we did that. Now we want to continue that work. We’re looking for outsiders who can serve some of the challenging issues we have here in the southeast. Quality of life, quality of health, education. We’re calling it the healthy human economy. Our fund will address that strategy.

VentureBeat: How much did the fund raise?

Nieves Burney: Our first fund was a proof of concept, a bit under $3 million. We’re targeting $30 million for this new fund. We’ll go to the market in September with that fund.

VentureBeat: How many investments have you made so far? What kind of industries?

Nieves Burney: We’ve invested in nine companies, all tech-enabled solutions. We didn’t have a sector focus. We focused on upskilling talent. One founder was creating a platform for recidivism. He was a formerly incarcerated individual. He was creating a LinkedIn for the formerly incarcerated. There were some other tech companies, like ad tech. We’ve invested in two IoT companies. But they’re all primarily tech companies.

VentureBeat: Have you had an exit yet, or otherwise done particularly well?

Nieves Burney: Not an exit yet. The fund is still fairly new. But one of our companies has done extremely well. That’s SkillCycle. She’s been listed in the Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing companies, and she’s been listed in Inc. as one of the best places to work.

VentureBeat: Were you always politically active in some way? Was there something in particular that led to your support for Kamala Harris?

Nieves Burney: I’ve always been active on behalf of marginalized communities, whether it’s in politics or policy or now in venture capital. Early in my career I was on the board of Head Start in Florida. That’s a program that provides early education for three- and four-year-olds. I was just in my twenties, but I thought that work was incredibly important. Everything I’ve done, it’s come from a passion for something that was hopefully going to change lives.

I was involved in the Fearless Fund lawsuit here in Atlanta. Their competition, that was started by me. I brought in some other colleagues to sign on and got some big-name VCs to support that. My goal has always been to work on behalf of marginalized communities, catalyze movements behind whatever is happening to those communities in significant ways. It’s the same for where I am now. To me, democracy and equality are under attack. I feel that, with as much power as I have to connect with others, we should do something about it. Our voices should be heard. If we’re not at the table, our voices should be heard.

VentureBeat: Have you found a lot of support for your efforts, or has there been resistance in the current political environment?

Nieves Burney: I’ve not found any resistance. I’m the one that actually brought Mark Cuban on. Cuban readily said he would participate. I already followed him on Twitter and I’d seen some of his commentary. He jumped right away. It was a catalyst. We leveraged his name to bring in other VCs.

VentureBeat: What do you find in the reality on the ground as far as black and other underrepresented people trying to raise money for tech companies?

Nieves Burney: For a lot of groups right now, capital is drying up. A lot of companies may not be ready to go to market, but they need capital to grow. Imagine if you weren’t already getting capital in a tight market. The sentiment on the ground is that founders want to raise money. They want people to be friendly to their causes like they are to others who are building companies.

They still want to build, but there’s a little–people are concerned about the numbers going back to zero again. In 2023, that’s what the day to day looked like. That’s so unfortunate, after we made such gains in 2020. The sentiment is they want to build. But is capital going to support underrepresented groups at any scale? That’s why funds like mine are important. We have the data. We meet these companies. We know what they’re capable of. We vet them. We do our diligence. We’re not writing checks blindly. Those founders trust us. But if we don’t have capital, we’ll start losing their trust. Many of thoe funds that represent those types of companies don’t have the impact to move the needle in VC.

VentureBeat: How have Georgia and Atlanta done in terms of the numbers that come in from the National Venture Capital Association? Is it ranked as far as how much money is being raised in tech?

Nieves Burney: We’re near the bottom. I don’t know the dollar amount from the report that came out earlier this year. But compared to the funds that were raised in 2020, 2021, 2022, and then deployed, we’re at billions less than that in 2023.

VentureBeat: Are you still seeing lots of startup activity in 2024? Is it different this year?

Nieves Burney: Others are picking up some things. It’s a very active community in terms of entrepreneurship. I’m sure you’ve heard of David Cummings here in the city. They’re creating an entire entrepreneurial hub in our downtown, which will transform this city. It’s going in before the World Cup. We’re going to have some of the games here. There’s so much excitement around that project. It brings entrepreneurship into the city that’s typically been in the suburbs. We’re all supporting his effort to do that. AI has become a big thing. We just had Atlanta Tech Week and Render ATL. Render ATL is focused primarily on engineers. The city is 100% behind those efforts.

VentureBeat: I wrote about that event, talking with Justin Samuels.

Nieves Burney: A lot of our venture funds and startups were built in this one particular environment here, called the Gathering Spot. I know Justin and a lot of the folks in that ecosystem.

VentureBeat: The support for Kamala Harris — did that start almost immediately after she announced?

Burney: Yes. I would say for some of us, it wasn’t so much about her in the beginning. It was about saving democracy. Biden was still in office. There was a call to have him removed. A petition from black women and allies went around to support him at that moment. I initially was sending that message out.

As soon as he announced he was stepping down, though, and putting his support behind her–we all saw how social media went crazy behind that. It hasn’t let up. The excitement is still palpable. VCs for Kamala was started by Leslie Feinzaig in Seattle. She dropped a link in our Slack chat. We have a group of women VCs from all over the world called Transact Global. I was the first to raise my hand and say, “I support this. Let’s get this going.” I began working my network to get folks involved and bring as many people as I could in.

VentureBeat: What do you think of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz getting behind Donald Trump, and their reasons for doing so? Why did you reject their thinking? 

Nieves Burney: I believe in the fundamental values of democracy and freedom, and these principles guide my decisions in both business and personal life. It was deeply disheartening to see prominent figures in the tech community, such as Andreessen and Horowitz, support a candidate whose actions and rhetoric often contradict these values. While I respect Andreesen Horowitz as a VC company, their perspectives do not reflect my own. Their decision reflects a perspective that prioritizes short-term gains and influence over the long-term health of our democracy.

I supported Kamala Harris because I believe in her vision for a more inclusive and just America. Her commitment to upholding democratic principles, protecting the rights of all citizens, and fostering innovation that benefits everyone resonates deeply with me and many others in the venture capital community. Over 1,000 of us came together to voice our support because we recognize that the future of our country depends on leaders who prioritize the collective good over individual power.

Rejecting the thinking behind Andreessen and Horowitz’s decision was not complicated. While I respect their right to their opinions and have met Ben before socially, I fundamentally disagree with the notion that supporting a candidate like Trump, who has repeatedly undermined democratic norms, is in the best interest of our nation or our industry. We need leadership that promotes unity, integrity, and progress for all, and that’s why I stand firmly behind Kamala Harris.

VentureBeat: How did you start rounding up people?

Nieves Burney: That main group tends to be almost apolitical. We just felt like this was a time when we could not be quiet. A lot of folks in that group signed up. But it was mainly me just texting folks to get them involved. They weren’t part of the group, but they might be VCs or founders who wanted to join this effort. It was down to working our networks. That’s where the movement started. It started in the chat, but it came out of there into other networks and groups where people strategize. That main group tends to be almost apolitical. We just felt like this was a time when we could not be quiet. A lot of folks in that group signed up. But it was mainly me just texting folks to get them involved. They weren’t part of the group, but they might be VCs or founders who wanted to join this effort. It was down to working our networks. That’s where the movement started. It started in the chat, but it came out of there into other networks and groups where people strategize.

The catalyzing didn’t really start until Mark Cuban. Once he signed on, people felt more comfortable. When I shared with them that Mark was on board, they could take it to their folks and say, “Mark is in.”

VentureBeat: What kind of singular message has everyone signed onto?

Nieves Burney: First of all, we’re pro-business. We’re pro-American. We’re pro-technology. Those are the things we want to make sure we continue to be. That was the clear message coming out. There was no emphasis on any particular group of people, but these are the things we stand for. Part of that messaging is, I have to now catalyze the folks who are underrepresented, who are basically voiceless in this moment, and see how I bring them to be a part of this so it’s not so one-sided, if you will. Everybody was in agreement with that.

We’re having our first event in Chicago. It’s part of the DNC events. We’re going to do something again in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We’ve decided we want to do more localized in-person events, speaking to voters. We talked about doing a phone bank. We don’t want to only fundraise. Our goal is, how do we insert ourselves as much as we can into the actual process of getting her elected?

VentureBeat: Do you have anything scheduled for specific events yet?

Nieves Burney: August 21 is the event in Chicago. We have one location, but the numbers have grown, so we’re going to have to move to another location. We’re waiting for that. Once that person responds and says we can use their space–we have probably close to 200 people already registered. Next, we’re planning a fundraiser over Zoom to get people excited about the movement in their localized communities. And we’ll be at the San Francisco and Los Angeles tech weeks, some local events there.

VentureBeat: Do you have a name for the event?

Nieves Burney: It’s still VCs for Kamala. We’re doing it in partnership with Tech for All. It’s basically awareness and some fundraising.

VentureBeat: What are the differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump that inspired you to get so heavily involved?

Nieves Burney: Most people are not aware of the SSBCI funding that was passed by Biden. Vice President Harris was responsible for rolling that out. The funding had been sitting in Congress for decades. It’s slowly rolled out. Certain people got funding. But this time, certain groups that didn’t get funding previously were able to grow businesses through the SSBCI funding.

I think she’s pro-technology. I think she’s pro-business. I’m not saying Donald Trump isn’t. But I believe she can articulate a vision for a tech-driven future that prioritizes sustainability and equitable access to opportunities. I’ve not seen former president Trump do that at all. Those are the things that are important to me. I work in the tech industry. I work with underrepresented founders. I feel like she has the ability to navigate complexities to achieve positive outcomes for the tech community. I didn’t see that in the former president’s administration.

She has strong strategic alliances with some of the tech community. She immediately met with Mark Cuban to talk about crypto. That’s a burning issue for a lot of other, bigger-name VC firms. President Biden had struck down one bill. How would she respond? Those things are important to me and important to the founders that we fund.

VentureBeat: Was there any other previous political activity that you’d organized for in the same way?

Nieves Burney: I don’t want to tell you my age, but I marched against apartheid. That was in the ‘80s, when I was in college. I organized with other students to join the march to the capitol in Tallahassee. I joined the NAACP when I was in college. I wanted to help the community become better, to thrive. I campaigned for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when they ran for office. I’m a Democrat, as you can tell. I’ve campaigned heavily for folks who’ve run for local office.

Don’t hurt me for this, but I was the first assistant to former mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. She had just started her campaign and wanted someone to come on her side to support her. I worked for her just for a small amount of time, because I also had a full-time job. But from there I had a front seat for her policies and what she was planning to do. I had a true belief that it would take someone with her tenacity to get the job done in this city.

So yeah, I’ve been politically active. I wanted to tamp that down in the venture capital space, because here people are supposed to be somewhat apolitical. But again, democracy is under attack. Equality is under attack. We can all sit on the sidelines and wait for other people to do something, or we can do something ourselves. That’s always been my attitude.

VentureBeat: It’s been interesting to see people who haven’t historically been political at heart get interested in politics now, and for different reasons.

Nieves Burney: That should be good for all of us. Some people feel like they’ve been silent for too long. I see a lot of former Trump supporters saying they’ve had enough. They feel like they weren’t given the truth about what was happening with this person and their policies. They’ve been reading the headlines, but not reading the story. Now they’re finding out. They’re not switching parties, but they want to vote for democracy. Even our former lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, who I’ve spent some personal time with in Silicon Valley when we launched our first fund–he has said he’ll vote for her. He’s voting for democracy. He’s not leaving the Republican Party. But I think you have good folks who are saying, “Enough is enough.”

Everyone on the outside is looking at our country and thinking, “What is happening in America?” I’ve never seen anything like this before. Not to the point where I’m fearful for my children’s lives. I won’t be here forever. Democracy is on the run. I fear for the next generation, and even for myself. Either you do something or you allow chaos to continue. I would rather for chaos to end and for us to talk peaceably to one another around some of the problems we have in this country. We can solve them together.

VentureBeat: Georgia itself was front and center for a lot of election controversy.

Nieves Burney: It was. There’s a bit of controversy going on right now in one county over putting in new voting machines months away from a national election. That’s being questioned. I was hoping we wouldn’t be front and center in this election, but here we are.

VentureBeat: How many VCs have signed up with you so far? Is there anything to notice about them, where they come from?

Nieves Burney: There are 803 who have signed on to support. We have Silicon Valley investors, New York investors, Boston investors. They’re from all over.

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