NEW YORK, March 18, 2021 — The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced that it has committed an additional $500 million to investing in diverse businesses and funds through its Launch With GS initiative, doubling its original commitment for a total of $1 billion.
“Through our work with Launch With GS, we saw that the pipeline of opportunities to back diverse-led companies and funds was both broad and deep, exceeding our expectations,” said David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. “Our initial investments, and our continuing engagement with entrepreneurs in our ecosystem, have compelled us to double our commitment, less than three years in. As we’ve said from the beginning, investing behind diversity is good business.”
In June 2018, Goldman Sachs announced Launch With GS, initially a $500 million commitment to invest in diverse-led companies and fund managers. Launch With GS was born out of the data-driven belief that diverse leadership teams perform better. Since the announcement, the firm has deployed more than $450 million across companies and managers with diverse management teams.
“Our investment thesis that investing in diverse teams generates positive investment outcomes is embedded across our businesses and will continue to be a cornerstone of our approach,” said Suzanne Gauron, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and head of Launch With GS. “The strong pipeline of entrepreneurs and managers we’ve met with so far has us even more excited about investing the next $500 million in 2021 and beyond.”
As part of the first $500 million, Launch With GS has committed to both companies and funds. Select companies include: BentoBox, Billie, Burst Oral Care, and LeaseQuery. Select funds include: Construct Capital, Define Ventures, and MaC Venture Capital.
A critical part of Launch With GS is also the global ecosystem that has been created by bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and other leaders to nurture and grow early stage businesses. The ecosystem was created with the belief that fostering a community will, over time, help increase the pipeline of investment opportunities in diverse businesses.
In February 2020, Goldman Sachs welcomed 14 high growth entrepreneurs into its first Launch With GS Black and Latinx Entrepreneur Cohort, which is now accepting applications for 2021. The six-week customized virtual experience provides high-touch access and resources to a select group of U.S.-based Black and Latinx founders to fast-track their companies’ growth and build relationships with investors and industry experts.
To join the Launch With GS global ecosystem and get connected go to gs.com/launchwithgs
