The friends-and-family round, for people who chose their family.

Lavender Fund backs LGBTQ+ founders and business owners in New York — first checks, honest counsel, and a network that shows up. Capital for chosen family.

Approach

The round the closet costs you.

Most companies start with a friends-and-family round. Many queer founders can't — coming out has a way of shrinking the family balance sheet. So the community's businesses start later, smaller, and underfunded, despite outperforming when they're backed. We exist to be that first call: the chosen-family round, plus the counsel that usually comes with it.

01 — Invest

First checks into LGBTQ+ founded companies with real revenue paths. Patient capital, meaningful ownership, and no need to translate yourself in the pitch.

  • Pre-seed and seed
  • Follow-on support
  • LP and operator network

02 — Advise

The bars, venues, studios, and shops that anchor queer New York deserve better than closing notices. We work with owners on growth, real estate strategy, and succession.

  • Growth strategy
  • Venue & lease strategy
  • Succession & preservation
<0.5%of startup funding reaches out queer founders
36%more jobs created by queer-founded companies vs. average
<2 wksanswer on every pitch — a real one
Portfolio

The house we're building.

A small, concentrated portfolio. Every company gets partner-level attention — that's the model, not a slogan.

Community

The network is the product.

Dinners, intros, and working sessions connecting queer founders, operators, and investors across the city. If you build, you belong here — funded by us or not.

Founders Dinner · The Village A quarterly table for queer founders and operators. Fall 2026
Office Hours Open 1:1 sessions with the partners. No pitch required. Monthly
The Lavender Letter What we're seeing in queer-owned businesses, quarterly. Subscribe
For investors

Back the founders everyone else overlooks.

Lavender Fund I invests in LGBTQ+ founded companies at the earliest stage. What we can share publicly is the strategy — the numbers live in the data room, after a conversation.

Structural mispricing

Queer founders outperform on jobs and patents yet receive a fraction of one percent of venture funding. Bias-driven gaps are exactly where disciplined early capital finds its edge.

Proprietary pipeline

Deal flow here runs on trust. Founders who go back in the closet to pitch other firms don't have to translate themselves at our table — so we see what others never do.

Two engines

Advisory work with queer-owned NYC businesses creates income, relationships, and an inside track on the fund's future investments.

Institutional reporting

Quarterly letters, capital account statements, and every document in a dedicated LP portal — not a PDF trail in your inbox.

STEP 1Request accessTell us who you are below.
STEP 2Meet the partnersA direct conversation — strategy, fit, questions.
STEP 3Verification & data roomAccreditation verified, then full offering materials.

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Thank you — a partner will reach out to schedule a call.

Nothing on this page is an offer to sell securities. Offering materials are provided only to verified accredited investors through definitive documents.

Pitch us

Come as you are. Pitch as you are.

Every submission is read by a partner. You'll hear back within two weeks either way — a real answer, not a form letter.

Please complete the required fields above.

Your pitch is in. A partner will read it and respond within two weeks.