FORGING GREAT COMPANIES WITH VENTURE CAPITAL AND MENTORSHIP

An Inclusive Venture Capital Fund

For some populations, there is a noticeable gap in gaining access to investment capital. These aspiring entrepreneurs are both underserved and overlooked, yet they have the courage and vision it takes to start and scale a business.

At Elevate Capital, we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to invest early and offer mentorship to these entrepreneurs. We provide the venture capital and guidance they need to turn their startups into great companies.

portland venture capital hue noir

We Fund the Underserved Entrepreneur

Elevate Capital is the nation’s first institutional venture capital fund that specifically targets investments in underserved entrepreneurs—such as women and ethnic minorities, or those with limited access regionally to capital and opportunities. We support visionaries with disruptive ideas and products through two specialized investment vehicles.

Our Venture Capital Funds

Inclusive Fund

The Elevate Capital Inclusive Fund invests principally in women, minority, and veteran-founded startups, primarily in the Portland, Oregon Metro region. See Portfolio companies.

Pre-Seed & Seed Stage

Funds for women, minorities, veterans

$25k to $100k / Investment

Capital Fund II

The Elevate Capital Fund II invests nationally in scalable start-ups primarily founded by underrepresented minority founders, including Women, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, and Veterans in technology and health care. See Portfolio companies.

Pre-seed, Seed Stage & Series-A

Local, regional and global startups

$100k up to $2 Million

Innovation Gap Fund

The Innovation Gap Fund, a program under Business Oregon, is managed by Elevate Capital. This Fund mirrors Business Oregon’s key focus industries, such as bioscience, cleantech, advanced materials, and natural resources, while also incorporating Elevate’s mission to bring more inclusivity to the startups in the state. See Innovation Gap Fund companies.

Pre-Seed Stage and Earlier

$50k to $250k / Investment

SSBCI Venture Direct

Elevate Capital was selected by Business Oregon to manage the venture capital component of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) based on its strong performance in managing the state’s Innovation Gap Funds I & II and its deep roots in Oregon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. See SSBCI Venture Direct Program companies and additional details about SSBCI.

The Elevate Impact

Our Impact Metrics from Fund I

Whether we’re raising venture capital or investing time and energy, we know the effort is worth it. Because their growth and success brings financial reward and benefits to their communities. At Elevate Capital, we are proud to help make such a positive impact.

0

Jobs
Created

$ 0 M

Portfolio
Investment

$ 0 M

Total
Investment

Raised by Portfolio

0

Startups
Funded

$ 0 M

Market
Cap

0 %

Founder
Diversity

Minorities, Women & Veterans

0

Investment
Exits

Founder Diversity

We support visionaries from all walks of life and help them reach entrepreneurial success.

Diverse Founders

83%

WOMEN

55%

FOUNDERS OF COLOR

48%

African American

18%

Other

21%

LATINX

10%

LGBTQ+

7%

Veteran

3%

Industry Diversity

We serve a range of industries to bring disruptive ideas and products to market.

SaaS

50%

CPG

34%

Science/Technology

32%

Healthcare

26%

Platform

24%

Hardware/IOT

21%

Sustainability

16%

Medical Device

11%

Lab Testing

5%

Fintech

5%

Pharma

3%

Blockchain

3%

Our Impact Metrics from Fund II

The Elevate Capital Fund II invests nationally in scalable start-ups primarily founded by underrepresented minority founders, including Women, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, and Veterans in technology and health care.
0

Jobs
Created

$ 0 M

Portfolio
Investment

$ 0 M

Total
Investment

Raised by Portfolio

0

Startups
Funded

$ 0 M

Market
Cap

0 %

Founder
Diversity

Minorities, Women & Veterans

0

Investment
Exits

Founder Diversity

We support visionaries from all walks of life and help them reach entrepreneurial success.

Diverse Founders

100%

Founders of Color

75%

WOMEN

69%

African American

50%

LGBTQ+

6%

Veteran

6%

LatinX

12.5%

Industry Diversity

We serve a range of industries to bring disruptive ideas and products to market.

Technology

69%

Medical Device

10%

IOT/Hardware

7%

Healthcare

7%

CPG

7%

Get Inspired

venture capital blendoor

Portfolio Feature:

BlendScore

BlendScore (formerly Blendoor) is a diversity analytics and hiring software company. Powered by BlendScore™, the company provides AI-driven recommendations, monitoring, and employer branding solutions that enable exceptional companies to attract and retain diverse talent. Companies that subscribe to Blendoor’s enterprise SaaS get an AI-driven ‘DEI Sherpa’ instant recommendations, tracking, alerts, and diverse slates of qualified executive and board-level talent, for a fraction of the cost of consulting or executive search.
Learn More

The Elevate Capital Blog

More Posts

Subscribe to Our Newsletter & Blog

We respect your privacy and we will not share or sell your information.

Elevate Capital

We are a team of investors who help underserved entrepreneurs reach their highest potential by providing the venture capital and mentorship needed to build a successful company.

500 SW 116th Ave, 4th Floor
Beaverton, OR 97225 

Linkedin Facebook Instagram Medium Youtube Vimeo Envelope

Explore & Learn

Team & Portfolio

©2026 ELEVATE CAPITAL  |  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED