She had no money, no college degree, no insider connections—and no doubt. When Arlan Hamilton launched Backstage Capital in 2015, she wasn’t just entering venture capital. She was crashing through the side door with a message that made the industry squirm: “Investing in white men isn’t a strategy—it’s a habit.”
And she’s been changing that habit ever since.
At a time when less than 2% of venture capital was going to Black founders, women, or LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, Arlan put her entire life on pause to raise a fund that would serve the people VCs ignored. Living out of the airport, pitching investors from borrowed phones, sleeping on floors—her story isn’t glamorous. But it’s the kind that rewrites what power looks like.
Today, Backstage Capital has invested in over 200 underrepresented founders—most of them women, people of color, or LGBTQ+. Her belief? These aren’t “niche” founders. They are the future of tech, and backing them isn’t charity—it’s smart business.
Let’s be clear: Arlan didn’t create a charity fund. She created a thesis-driven, return-focused investment vehicle—with receipts. Companies in her portfolio include Calendly, Tinsel, and Uncharted Power, all founded by innovators who might’ve never seen a VC check without her.
And her presence has shaken the old boys’ club to its core.
Because Arlan isn’t trying to blend in. She’s a Black queer woman in a hoodie who talks straight, tweets unapologetically, and rejects performative allyship. She doesn’t network to impress. She shows up to disrupt—and she does it with receipts, books, keynotes, and most importantly, funding.
Her 2020 book “It’s About Damn Time” became a bestseller because it wasn’t another tech bro memoir. It was a call-to-arms for every founder who’s been told they’re “too early,” “too niche,” or “not quite a fit.”
In 2021, she launched a $36 million fund exclusively for Black female founders, turning that 0.2% VC funding stat on its head. Even though Backstage faced its own capital challenges—because yes, bias runs that deep—Hamilton kept investing, educating, and showing the world that underestimated doesn’t mean underperforming.
And in true Arlan fashion, she’s now expanding into media, real estate, and startup education, because she knows the next wave of generational wealth will come from founders who look like her.
She didn’t wait for a seat at the table. She built her own damn building.
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