The Los Angeles startup scene has come a long way in the three-and-a-half years since Marlon Nichols, Troy Carter and Trevor Thomas launched Cross Culture Ventures. The city and its surrounding Orange County exurbs were at the beginning of a venture capital surge that has seen invested capital in the region rise from $3.63 billion in 2015to $6 billion last year.
Since Cross Culture landed on the Los Angeles scene with a $50 million fund, Nichols and his partners have notched three exits and seen the paper value of the fund’s portfolio grow by an aggregate of 2,085 percent, according to people with knowledge of the firm.
And Nichols and his partners have done it by backing one of the most diverse pools of startup founders in any firm’s portfolio.
Multicultural millennial consumers are one of the fastest growing segments of the population across the United States of America and they are engaged with technology like never before. And they are the ‘super consumers’—young, connected, culturally aware and socially active—notes the trends reportState of Technology and Culture: Culture A$ Currency released by venture capital firm Cross Culture Ventures.
As the U.S. population shifts and becomes more and more diverse, founders who take an inclusive approach in serving this market are poised launch the next billion-dollar companies. Founders with this mindset can not only realize revenue, but also affect change, unlocking new markets and opportunities and influencing global culture and trends. And with the right support, strategy, and execution, the next billion-dollar startup can most certainly bloom in South LA.
Startups who see the data showing that 86{5be84514e8f68b2a600bba95dc743ad17e8b7c13eea9b1550b2859fef5fde271} of Latinos, 76{5be84514e8f68b2a600bba95dc743ad17e8b7c13eea9b1550b2859fef5fde271} of Blacks, and 88{5be84514e8f68b2a600bba95dc743ad17e8b7c13eea9b1550b2859fef5fde271} of Asians are early adopters and heavy consumers are beginning to create products with specific use cases in multicultural markets. From deeply multicultural-focused beauty lines like the Rihanna-founded Fenty (whose groundbreaking 40 shades of foundation saw its darkest hues sell out in a flash) to financial services and beyond, there is still plenty of room for upstarts to shake things up.
See Cross Culture Ventures founder and managing partner Marlon Nichols discuss where these opportunities are, how to leverage them, and connect with the ‘super consumer’ population during the Urban Tech Connect segment Culture as Currency: The Next Billion-Dollar Company, alongside Ignition Factory founder Chris Denson on May 17, 2018, in Los Angeles. Get your tickets now.
Nielsen study the Multicultural Edge reports that multicultural consumers, the fastest growing segment in the United States, total more than 120 million and are increasing by 2.3 million per year. The growth engine of the future in the U.S. Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and other multiculturals comprise 38{5be84514e8f68b2a600bba95dc743ad17e8b7c13eea9b1550b2859fef5fde271} of the U.S. population right now, with Census projections logging multicultural populations as the numeric majority by 2044. The addition of a MENA category for people of Middle Eastern or North African descent (who are currently identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as NHWhite) on the 2020 decennial census is under review, and could potentially change the date of the majority-minority tipping point, Nielsen said.
