Representation matters. Visibility matters. Pride matters. This is why Gaingels, a leading venture investment syndicate in service of the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies, has today released the premiere edition of the Gaingels 100, an inspiring collection of profiles of LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and founders from around the world.

The collection includes founding stories, candid anecdotes, and accounts of successes and failures, as well as advice for future LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs who are out and proud while trying to build businesses, woo investors, attract talent, and become world class leaders.

Gaingels 100 is now available for free download at: Gaingels.com/gaingels-100. Individuals and organizations can also request free print copies by filling out a request form.

“Great, world-changing businesses are founded every day by people of color, women, trans individuals, and visible and invisible members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” said Lorenzo Thione, managing partner of Gaingels and co-founding chair of StartOut, the leading LGBTQIA+ non-profit network serving LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. “The Gaingels 100 is one way we can amplify the stories of these incredible leaders so the next generation can see what’s possible for them, too.”

Celebrating the success of the LGBTQIA+ business community

Just as the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies march at Pride for visibility and recognition, Gaingels wants to amplify the stories of the many incredible LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and founders who are changing the world one company at a time.

The Gaingels 100 includes many inspiring stories and firsts, including:

  • George Arison, co-founder and CEO of Shift, the first American openly gay founder and CEO to take a company public.
  • Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, co-founder and CMO of Plume, the first digital healthcare company dedicated to the transgender community.
  • Kyle Robertson, co-founder and CEO of Cerebral, a fast-growing telemedicine unicorn startup company focused on mental health.
  • Peter Arvai, founder of Prezi, the first openly gay CEO in Central and Eastern Europe.
  • Tia Lyles-Williams, founder and CEO of LucasPye BIO, the first African-American queer woman to found and lead a large-scale biotechnology, biopharmaceutical manufacturing company.

“Too many LGBTQIA+ founders have been ignored, overlooked, underestimated, and under-funded in the past. Too many gatekeepers still hide behind their biases and claim it’s a pipeline issue,” Thione added. “We’re proving that to be a myth and, in the process, helping bring about much needed change.”

About Gaingels

Gaingels is a leading venture investment syndicate in support of and representing the LGBTQIA+ community and allies in the venture capital space. Gaingels also supports its companies with a diverse talent and capital pipeline and provides an internal board member recruitment advisory to help bring more diversity and representation within private boards. Gaingels invests in companies with diverse/LGBTQIA+ founders and C-suite leaders at all stages of growth, as well as in other high-growth companies resolved on building more inclusive teams. Gaingels is an ardent supporter of the Diversity Term Sheet Rider Initiative to increase access to venture funding events for non-traditional check writers and regularly co-invests with select VC leads across a variety of sectors, from technology to B2B, healthcare and consumer, in competitive and over-subscribed rounds, from seed to growth/pre-IPO. For more information visit www.gaingels.com. The Gaingels 100 is not intended as an investment recommendation or an indication of whether Gaingels has made an investment in any of these portfolio companies.