Turning a Blog Into a Movement
Kathryn Finney started her career as a journalist and later launched The Budget Fashionista in 2005, offering style advice for women on a budget. The blog quickly became a trusted voice, not only for fashion but also for entrepreneurship and finance. Building this audience taught Finney that the stories she shared—and those she uplifted—had the power to create community and change. This foundation set the stage for her next major mission: closing the funding gap for women and minority founders.
Seeing the Opportunity in Funding Inequity
Despite growing entrepreneurship in diverse communities, Finney saw that funding remained concentrated in networks that often excluded women and people of color. In 2015, she launched digitalundivided, a non-profit researching Black and Latina women’s experience in tech. Her study, “ProjectDiane,” revealed that Black women received less than 0.2% of venture capital funding despite launching some of the fastest-growing startups. This data gave her both a clear problem and a powerful reason to act.
From Research to Investment
Building on ProjectDiane’s findings, Finney decided to take direct action. In 2016, she launched the Inclusion Innovation Fund, a venture fund dedicated to investing in early-stage companies founded by women of color. While most venture dollars followed familiar routes, Finney focused on founders who were often overlooked—bringing both capital and early-stage mentorship. She built a fund that prioritized purpose and impact without compromising on business fundamentals.
A New Model for Venture
The Inclusion Innovation Fund wasn’t just about writing checks—it was about changing systems. Finney curated a network that helped portfolio companies connect with mentors, corporate partners, and follow-on investors. She also practiced transparent cohort investment, building community among founders and celebrating diverse success. The Fund’s early investments included Fintech, health-tech, and consumer startups, each selected not only for potential returns but for the voices they represented in tech.
Building Community and Credibility
Finney understood that capital alone wouldn’t create equity. She continued to host conferences like “#ProjectDiane Live” and speak at events such as SXSW and Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit to raise visibility around the voices in her portfolio. Her work made both economic and cultural impact, showing that when diverse teams receive both money and mentorship, their companies thrive and scale.
Scaling Impact With Sustainability
As the Inclusion Innovation Fund grew, so did its influence. Finney emphasized that inclusion-first investing wasn’t charity—it was smart business. Success stories from her portfolio, along with follow-on funding rounds, helped convince institutional investors that diversity could deliver market returns. That credibility helped her scale the fund model, bringing more capital into founders who had traditionally been shut out.
Conclusion
Kathryn Finney’s journey from blogger to venture capitalist wasn’t just a career shift—it was a strategic movement. By combining research, community building, and targeted investment, she created a new model for capital allocation: one that starts with inclusion and ends with impact. In doing so, she proved that changing the founders you fund changes the future of the entire ecosystem.
