A venture capital duo that came together on the Heights has landed on the prestigious list. Ivan Alo and LaDante McMillon are the founders of , a seed-stage venture fund with a mission to support African-American and Latino tech entrepreneurs aiming to solve real-world problems.
New Age Capital founders Ivan Alo CSOM '12, left, and LaDante McMillon MCAS '12
Both young men graduated from Boston College in 2012. Alo studied finance in the Carroll School of Management, while McMillon studied communication in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. As undergraduates, the pair bonded over 鈥渆ducation, music, entertainment ... and other dope [stuff],鈥� they wrote in a听.
After some success in real estate and documentary filmmaking, Alo and McMillon collaborated on an app intended to democratize financial literacy. That experience immersed them in the New York City tech world, where they noticed something missing: 鈥淧eople who looked like us starting companies,鈥� they recounted in the blog. 鈥淲e knew a plethora of dope Black and Latino entrepreneurs with brilliant minds, amazing ideas, and incredible hustle, but they couldn鈥檛 find the money to even test their ideas. We鈥檙e no Neil deGrasse Tyson, but the math didn鈥檛 add up.鈥�
With help from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alo and McMillon launched New Age Capital in 2016 to address that glaring paucity of people of color in the startup scene. By the time Forbes caught wind of New Age, the team had deployed half a million dollars into a听听of 12 companies that are solving problems in health care, transportation, the arts, cosmetics, the court system, and other areas.
For example, Dollaride connects residents of urban transit deserts with a network of commuter vans; Court Buddy matches users with trusted attorneys that meet their budget; and The Coven provides workspaces for women, as well as transgender and nonbinary people.
Beyond the companies they work with directly, Alo and McMillon also promote entrepreneurs of color in a video interview series they produce,听.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited and grateful鈥� to be featured in the Forbes list, Alo and McMillon write of the announcement. 鈥淲e鈥檙e more focused than ever on supporting the best Black and Latino entrepreneurs of the next generation.鈥�
A third Boston College alum,听, Morrissey College '12, landed on the听贵辞谤产别蝉听list as well. Patenaude is a health care economist who studies the most effective disease interventions.
All images via .
鈥擯atrick L. Kennedy, Morrissey College 鈥�99
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