Arlan Hamilton

Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is
the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to
minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are
people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now
raised more than $5 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by
underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio, which launched
four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, and London. Arlan was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine
in October 2018 as the first Black woman non-celebrity to do so.