Enushé Khan

New partnership alert!! Excited to announce that Black Flag is partnering with xAI to give founders free credits and direct access to Grok - xAI’s family of powerful, multi-modal, real-time models. Across essentially any end product you're applying to Black Flag with, Grok will deliver: - Deep reasoning across text, code, and context - Faster inference and improved function calling - CUI: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth just announced that Grok is being adopted for handling Controlled Unclassified Information If you're building in critical technology areas important to the West - space, energy, autonomy, cyber - the next generation of secure software will be built with Grok and you can now get a head start through Black Flag. Only 18 days left to apply to Black Flag’s January batch - apply at the link in the comments!

74

10 Comments

You can feel it, something’s shifting in hard tech. From materials to manufacturing to energy, we’re seeing founders take on harder problems, and raising from investors who finally understand what it takes to build in these sectors. When Harpoon Ventures started Black Flag, our goal was simple: help critical-tech founders close the distance between great ideas and the right capital. Over the past few months, we asked hundreds of founders which investors they trust and recommend most. Their answers became something worth sharing: a public list of the most active deep-tech funds today. It’s meant to save founders time, connect them to the right partners, and make this ecosystem a little easier to navigate. 🏴‍☠️ Introducing The Black Flag Investor List → https://lnkd.in/dYsCnpnd

62

7 Comments

💡 How do you prove you’re ready to lead your first deal in VC? Moving from supporting diligence to leading a deal is a huge leap in VC. In a recent nextNYC webinar, Claire Biernacki explained how she built conviction early on by developing a thesis, backing it with expert calls and research, and earning partner buy-in. For anyone climbing the ladder, this is the playbook. #VCDeals #WomenInVC #CareerTips #StartupInvesting #VCcareers

11

1 Comment

Reminder for the Black operators (in startups, large companies, and small firms): AI Hackathon for Black​ Operators. £1k prize 👩🏿‍💻📣👨🏾‍💻 If you're building with AI (which you should be) - this is for you. ​https://lnkd.in/e7NGeCJb

75

5 Comments

Black and Latino folks make up roughly 33% of the U.S. population — but account for less than 3% of funded tech founders, and receive under 2% of venture capital dollars.

4

For the past few years, I’ve been deeply focused on one question: What does it actually take to help #Black and underfunded founders build businesses that scale? A recent Pew Research Center study reinforced something many of us working in this space already know: while access to capital is the most visible barrier, it’s rarely the only one. Many #underfunded businesses struggle to grow not because the founders lack talent or vision, but because the structures around their businesses weren’t designed for efficiency or scale in the first place. Why? Because access to: • the right networks • technical assistance • stage-specific guidance has historically been uneven. So instead of focusing on just one intervention (like #funding), I started designing a support structure that tackles the how of business growth. Here’s the framework we’ve been building: 1. Assess: Founders evaluate where their business actually is today. 2. Equip: They get access to the tools, education, and resources that match their stage. 3. Support: They receive targeted opportunities to grow based on that stage. Today I want to highlight #3: Support. One way we’re doing this is through the Rialto Business Directory. Yes, #founders can list their products or services, but the real value is deeper than that. The directory can also be used to: • find early customers • recruit beta users • run market research • test new ideas with a supportive ecosystem In other words, it’s not just a directory, it’s a growth tool. And the best part? It’s free for founders. If you’re building something and want a space to test, learn, and grow, I’d love for you to join us. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eMteVkGX #MelsMondayMusings

14

5 Comments

Just 1.2% of the record $137 billion invested in US startups in the first half of 2021 went to Black entrepreneurs, and only 2% went to women-founded companies, according to a blog post from Crunchbase. If you aren't familiar with the challenges...

2

Incredibly excited to double down on Heron Power in the company’s Series B, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Breakthrough Energy. Heron is executing at breakneck speed to introduce a new class of power electronics that will make the grid smarter, more efficient and more resilient. For a deep dive into what’s under the hood, look out for my conversation with Drew Baglino on the Catalyst pod tomorrow https://lnkd.in/gqa26e6a

301

8 Comments

A big milestone today for Grow Therapy, which just announced a $150M Series D led by TCV and Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with BCI and Menlo Ventures joining Sequoia, Transformation Capital, and SignalFire. When we led Grow’s Series A in 2021, it was rooted in a belief that mental health access in the U.S. isn’t hindered by supply, it’s a systems problem. To win, Grow needed to be deeply integrated into the healthcare ecosystem, not operating as a point solution. In just 5 years, more than 2 million people have used Grow, with over 10 million therapy and medication management visits delivered on the platform. What stands out is the infrastructure the team has built: Grow now partners with 125+ health insurers, including Medicare and Medicaid across most states, reaching 220 million covered lives. At the same time, tools like its clinically-guided AI notetaker are reducing provider documentation time by nearly 70%, helping clinicians focus more on care. This is what durable healthtech looks like: deep payer integrations, measurable outcomes, and technology embedded directly into existing healthcare workflows. Excited to continue partnering with Jake Cooper, Manoj Kanagaraj, MD, Alan Ni, and the entire Grow team as they build trusted mental health infrastructure for insurers, employers, health systems, and most importantly, patients.

472

19 Comments