Slauson & Co.

What Slauson & Co. does

Slauson & Co. is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 and headquartered in Los Angeles by co-founders Austin Clements (former TenOneTen Ventures investor, founding Chair of PledgeLA, Knight Foundation board member, Morehouse/NYU Stern) and Ajay Relan (founding partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners, founder of Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen and the #HashtagLunchbag movement). The firm invests at pre-seed and seed stages in US-based SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech companies whose founders use lived experience as a competitive advantage, with a stated focus on Black, AAPI, Latinx, and women-led startups. It backs 35+ active portfolio companies spanning fintech, health tech, EV, housing, logistics, beauty, food tech, and AI-enabled verticals.

The firm's products are its two venture funds and its accelerator program. Fund I closed at approximately $75 million in 2021, backed by Google, Meta, Twitter, PayPal, and Ron Conway. Fund II closed at $100 million in September 2024, scaling deployable capital by roughly a third. The Friends & Family accelerator is a 12-week virtual program that provides capital (escalating from $20K initially to $150K in the 2024 cohort and $300K in the 2026 cohort), tactical programming, and network access to selected founders, co-developed with nonprofit partner Grid110 and connected to PledgeLA. The 2026 cohort selected 6 companies from 720+ applicants.

Revenue is generated through traditional VC fund management economics — management fees on committed capital (~$175M AUM) and carried interest on successful exits. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The operating team is lean at seven people across investing, platform, programs, and content functions. As a community-led and direct-to-consumer investment platform in the underrepresented-founder segment, Slauson & Co. monetizes through institutional LP-backed funds rather than through product or subscription pricing.

Name

Slauson & Co.

Legal name

Slauson & Co.

Website

https://slauson.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Slauson & Co. is a Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 that invests at pre-seed and seed in US SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech companies led by underrepresented founders. The firm manages approximately $175 million across two funds and operates the Friends & Family accelerator program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early stage funding
• Startup accelerator programs
• Pre-seed seed investment
• Economic inclusion investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Slauson & Co. manages venture capital funds (Fund I $75M, Fund II $100M) for limited partners, earning management fees and carried interest on successful exits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Slauson & Co. is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech companies at the pre-seed and seed stages through Fund II ($100M) and also runs the Friends & Family accelerator, a 12-week virtual program that invests $150,000–$300,000 in selected founders alongside tactical programming and network access. The firm is mission-driven around economic inclusion and centers lived experience as a competitive advantage for founders it backs.

Product overview

Slauson & Co. is an early-stage venture capital firm offering a unified investment and accelerator platform. The firm operates Fund II, a $100 million VC fund investing in pre-seed and seed stage companies, alongside the Friends & Family accelerator program which provides $150,000-$300,000 in funding with tactical programming and network access. The portfolio spans SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech categories across diverse verticals including fintech, health tech, EV, housing, logistics, beauty, and food tech.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Friends & Family Accelerator: A 12-week virtual accelerator program that provides early-stage founders with $150,000-$300,000 in investment, tactical programming, and access to a network of successful entrepreneurs, investors, and operators.

Products and services

• Friends & Family Accelerator A 12-week virtual accelerator program that provides $150,000–$300,000 in funding to selected early-stage founders, alongside tactical programming and access to a network of successful entrepreneurs, investors, and operators. It is targeted at underrepresented founders building SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech companies.
• Fund II ($100M venture capital fund) A $100 million early-stage venture capital fund managed by Slauson & Co. that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage innovative technology companies (SMB SaaS and Consumer Tech categories) led by founders using their lived experience as a competitive advantage. Limited partners include major technology companies.
• Fund I ($75M inaugural venture capital fund) Slauson & Co.'s inaugural $75 million venture capital fund, launched in 2020, that invested in early-stage technology companies with a focus on founders using their lived experience as a competitive advantage. Backed by major technology companies and notable Silicon Valley investors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fund II raised $100 million in 2024, demonstrating institutional backing
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Grid110coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2021Grid110 is a nonprofit providing free entrepreneurship programs to underrepresented founders in Los Angeles. Slauson & Co. partners with Grid110 on the Friends & Family accelerator program.
• PledgeLAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2021PledgeLA is the nation's largest city-wide initiative to promote diversity in the LA tech community. Austin Clements serves as founding Chair of PledgeLA, connecting Slauson & Co. to the LA tech ecosystem.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Unusual Ventures: Early-stage VC investing in enterprise and consumer companies, with explicit commitment to diversity among partners and portfolio. More established firm with similar mission orientation.
• Kapor Capital: Oakland-based early-stage VC with explicit focus on closing gaps of access and opportunity for underrepresented founders. More established, larger fund size, and broader portfolio than Slauson.

Direct peers

• VamosVentures: Los Angeles-based early-stage VC focused on Latinx and other underrepresented founders. Geographic and demographic overlap with Slauson, and explicitly named in Slauson team backgrounds.
• MaC Venture Capital: Diversity-focused early-stage VC founded by former Cross Culture Ventures and M Ventures principals. Similar pre-seed/seed focus and explicit mission of investing in underestimated founders.
• Backstage Capital: Arlan Hamilton's early-stage VC fund focused on underrepresented founders (women, people of color, LGBTQ+). Most directly comparable to Slauson in mission, stage focus, and accelerator program model.
• Harlem Capital Partners: Early-stage VC firm investing in minority and women founders, with similar mission alignment to Slauson. Comparable fund size range and focus on diversifying venture capital.
• Concrete Rose Capital: Seed-stage fund investing in Black, Latinx, and women founders. Directly comparable thesis, stage, and demographic focus as Slauson & Co.
• Precursor Ventures: Pre-seed/seed focused VC investing in software, hardware, and consumer products. Comparable stage focus, though Precursor is not explicitly diversity-mission aligned.

Others

• TenOneTen Ventures: LA-based early-stage VC firm where Slauson co-founder Austin Clements previously worked. Geographic and stage overlap, and direct talent pipeline connection to Slauson.

Emerging players

• XRC Ventures: Early-stage VC and accelerator focused on retail and consumer technology. Stage and category overlap with Slauson's consumer tech focus; explicitly named in Slauson team backgrounds.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SlausonAndCo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/slausonandco
• Instagraminstagram.com/slausonandco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments86 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Slauson & Co.