LatinxVC Statement on SVB
A statement from our Board of Directors and Executive Director
To the LatinxVC Community,
Like many of you, we are deeply saddened and shocked by what has occurred in the last couple of days with Silicon Valley Bank. Our organization would not be where it is today without the support of SVB.
SVB has been a catalyst for the venture ecosystem for decades. Beyond capital, SVB has provided support, resources, and invaluable relationships to our community. It has enabled growth and innovation across the lifecycle of entities such as our own.
As a founding partner, Silicon Valley Bank provided LatinxVC with the runway to do the work of shedding light on the lack of diversity in venture capital. Their financial and strategic support has been vital for our organization's growth, our data reporting, and our inaugural Annual Summit. Our accomplishments would not have been possible without their contributions and leadership (as our first supporter).
While we have yet to know the full ripple effect this will have across the ecosystem, we express our most sincere sympathy to all those affected, including the SVB staff, who have been remarkable board members, partners, and friends. We specifically want to express our gratitude to a few individuals— Courtney Karnes, Al Guerrero, John China, and Alex Marshall, for your advocacy in making the venture industry more inclusive.
If there’s one thing we know for sure about this community, it's that we have grit and resilience. We will get through this… juntos.
For more information on the future of Silicon Valley Bank, click here. While we don’t have all the answers, we hope we can navigate these times together. Over the next week, we hope to host a discussion with experts in the ecosystem on best practices to manage through this. In the meantime, we will continue tracking this situation and communicating what we know to be more than speculation.
Sincerely,
LatinxVC Board & Mariela Salas, Executive Director