Serena Ventures Raises $111 Million to Invest in Diversity

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM TENNIS CHAMPION: I just wanted to start investing in different things and trying to see, OK, what is 2.0? I love my career. I love my tennis career, but where — what’s the next step for Serena? And this is it. This is something that I truly found a passion for and something that I can — that affects everyday lives.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: And what is it? What will it do? Is it about money? Investing in people’s — what will it do?

WILLIAMS: So, our fund really impacts lives and companies and everyday lives. So, what we tried to invest in is companies that are really impacting everyday lives of everyday people. So, that kind of really broadens our spectrum of who we invest in. And also, it also narrows down who we do not invest in. So, whether it’s in Fintech or whether it’s in consumer goods or technology, we really just want to make sure it has a positive effect of impacting the lives of everyday people.

AMANPOUR: And who would you not invest in? That’s intriguing.

WILLIAMS: Yes. You know, for us, it’s really about diversity. And it’s not about us not investing in them, it’s just about them meeting what our mission and what we want to invest in. I love investing. And I started it because I was at a seminar, and this woman was speaking about how less than 2 percent of all VC money went to women.

AMANPOUR: Venture Capital?

WILLIAMS: Venture Capital money went to women. And people — and even less went to people of color. I thought she misspoke. I said, oh, my goodness, how embarrassing. You know, she must have misspoken. And I just — my mind couldn’t wrap around that. And so, when I learned that — and, of course, I went to her and I said, was that a mistake? And she just said, no. And I did my research and it wasn’t a mistake. And so, I had already been investing for four years. And that’s when I decided I need to write bigger checks because the only way that number is going to change is people that are like me, women that look like me can write those bigger checks and to other companies, maybe a founder, you know, a woman of color, or a woman or, you know, a man. It doesn’t matter. We don’t want to check a box. Like I told you before, we just want to be able to impact that life. And — but when you hire women and you hire people of color, you hire diverse, you tend to pick more diverse, right? And then it also helps men to say, OK, I shouldn’t be giving my money only to other men. Like, let me, you know, diversify. And so, that’s what makes me really excited is that I had a way to impact — because of tennis, I have a way to impact VC in a different way and bringing diversity to that as well.