FREDERIK GROCE

Age: 29 • Cofounder, BLCK VC

Groce moved a lot growing up, living mostly in motels. A past felony conviction limited job opportunities for his father; his mother, originally from Belgium, worked as a housekeeper. Now, fostering opportunity is deeply personal. “Tech is where new wealth is being created,” he says. “And if we’re the gatekeepers, we should be trying to make it more inclusive.” In addition to serving as a principal at $1 billion-inassets Storm Ventures, Groce and Sydney Sykes three years ago cofounded BLCK VC, a San Francisco–based nonprofit with a mission to double the number of Black investors employed by VC firms to 4% by 2024. In October, the organization announced that partner firms like Salesforce Ventures pledged to graduate 300 VCtrained fellows in three years. “You can get Black founders support, mentors, everything else. But if you can’t fund them, it doesn’t matter,” Groce says. “We have a responsibility in the venture ecosystem to do this work.”

JUDGES: Tony Florence, general partner, NEA; Charles Hudson, managing partner, Precursor Ventures; Jess Lee, partner, Sequoia; Alice Lloyd George, founder and partner, Rogue (Under 30 Class of 2016)