Fund the First Check
Fifth Star Funds is redefining the starting line of entrepreneurship, providing catalytic capital to overlooked founders, with all returns reinvested to support the next generation.
Join Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, and Chicago's leading philanthropists in supporting overlooked founders.
Fifth Star Funds is a nonprofit organization serving as the first Friends & Family fund in America.
Many founders do not have access to the earliest-stage (Friends & Family) capital. Research shows that the average Friends & Family round in the U.S. is $23K. Our $25K investment is intentionally set to match this benchmark, providing overlooked founders with the same critical starting point as their peers. This catalytic check enables early validation while creating measurable traction for future funding.
Our philanthropic "evergreen" model welcomes anyone to join in supporting overlooked founders, introducing them to the venture capital ecosystem.
Many founders do not have access to the earliest-stage (Friends & Family) capital. Research shows that the average Friends & Family round in the U.S. is $23K. Our $25K investment is intentionally set to match this benchmark, providing overlooked founders with the same critical starting point as their peers. This catalytic check enables early validation while creating measurable traction for future funding.
Our philanthropic "evergreen" model welcomes anyone to join in supporting overlooked founders, introducing them to the venture capital ecosystem.
The wealth gap between white and Black American families is 8x.
However, when considering the “liquid” wealth gap which excludes home equity, there is an even more alarming 22x wealth gap in America, with median liquid Black family wealth of $3,630.
“F&F are typically the first to support businesses with capital. Unfortunately, for many Black founders, that’s not always the case—simply due to a lack of funds. Because of historical financial inequity, the traditional friends-and-family model is not a viable equalizer for Black founders. A new pre-seed stage (F&F) model is needed.”
-- Accenture
For the American Dream to become a reality for all founders, we need a new national solution to reform the F&F round.
After four years of investing, our success speaks for itself.
When we go National, our impact will be unforgettable.
$25k
Check size
$150M
Fund 6,000 Black founders
$5.2B
Black wealth created
34.8x
Wealth gap return
Our Partners
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Our stars brighten the entrepreneurial sky
The more we invest in untapped talent, the stronger our community grows
Get in touch
Fifth Star Funds is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We invest in early-stage companies whose founders have faced material barriers to accessing capital due to racial discrimination. While our research primarily addresses challenges faced by the Black community and the potential impact investment programs like ours could have on such challenges, our investment program is open to applicants of all races who can demonstrate they have experienced racial discrimination in securing startup funding.
© 2025 Fifth Star Funds, Inc.
© 2025 Fifth Star Funds, Inc.
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