New Andreeseen Horowitz fund backed by Will Smith, Kevin Durant

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• Andreessen Horowitz is launching a new $15 million
  venture fund backed by black celebrities, according to the Wall
  Street Journal.
• Will Smith, Kevin Durant, and Sundial Brands CEO
  Richelieu Dennis have reportedly already signed on as limited
  partners to the fund. 
• Andreeseen Horowitz will reportedly donate investment
  returns toward nonprofits that aim to spur the black
  community’s engagement in tech. 

Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has launched a
new fund that will partner exclusively with black celebrities,
athletes, and media figures, according
to the Wall Street Journal. 

Already, the firm has secured high-profile backing from actor
Will Smith, NBA star Kevin Durant, and the founder of beauty line
Sundial Richelieu Dennis, the Journal reports.

The $15 million fund, which will reportedly operate
alongside Andreessen Horowitz’s $1.5 billion fund, won’t function
like a traditional venture fund; instead, investment returns will
go towards nonprofits that aim to spur the black community’s
engagement in tech. 

Andreessen Horowitz’s new fund is just one among a growing
movement in venture capital to diversify the industry’s
overwhelming white and male demographic. In May,
Backstage Capital launched a $36 million fund to invest
exclusively in businesses backed by black female
founders.  

Read the full story over at the Wall Street
Journal.