Venture capitalists talk about money all the time—revenue, profits, valuations—but they’re more cagey when it comes to their own money. Pay transparency is an issue in many industries, but it can be particularly mystical in the world of VC, where many jobs are never publicly posted.
There are lots of peer-to-peer surveys for more junior positions like associates and principals that share what many specific funds pay, one venture investor told me, but “pay transparency isn’t great at an industry level.” They said it “varies dramatically” at the fund level, and can depend on whether the firm is an equal partnership.
Still, the general scarcity of public information about how much money to expect in various roles at VC firms can make it more challenging for people who are greatly underrepresented in venture and historically underpaid—like women and people of color—to know if they’re earning what they’re worth, or whether they should go ahead and ask for carry. It’s especially tricky because many VC jobs are offered through friend circles or Stanford University alumni networks. (My colleague Jessica Mathews and I wrote a full guide on how to get a job in venture, which you can read here.) It “definitely” disproportionately affects women and minorities, the venture investor said, although it “varies a lot, fund to fund, in terms of how accountable they hold themselves.”
The pronounced lack of diversity can also have an impact on which startups get those coveted VC dollars: “Venture is a great job, and there’s very few of them,” Jen Wolf, managing partner at Initialized Capital, recently told me. But if it’s “always the same type of person that’s doing that job, the same type of companies and the same type of founders are always getting funded.”
There are some resources for wanna-be investors to get insight into how much they might be able to make and what to ask for when negotiating: Emerging Venture Capitalists Association, a community for early-career investors, publishes an annual compensation survey; John Gannon also publishes an annual salary survey. Meanwhile, laws have passed in several states and cities that require employers to share salary ranges for positions. But Initialized’s Wolf says she’s seen some reports of people posting really wide salary ranges “as a way to try to get around the process.” Initialized Capital just launched a public search for its newest partner, and will offer $400,000 to $650,000 in base salary, not including bonuses or carry, I reported yesterday. Others in the VC space have been speaking more publicly about compensation.
The good news is there seems to be some traction—both on the state and firm level—to shine a brighter light on compensation. And according to what the venture investor told me, there are VC group chats that share lots of salary data with each other—though some of it is incomplete. But in light of the VC industry’s poor track record of hiring women and people of color, and considering the pay gaps that remain, I certainly hope it will become less noteworthy when a VC firm reveals to the world how much a partner makes.
On that note, I’d love to hear from investors: How are you approaching discussions inside your firm about sharing more detailed salaries for roles, or speaking openly about compensation within the firm? My email, as always, is below.
See you tomorrow,
Anne Sraders
Twitter: @AnneSraders
Email: anne.sraders@fortune.com
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Jackson Fordyce curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Aledade, a Bethesda, Md.-based primary care practice network, raised $260 million in Series F funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Venrock, Avidity Partners, OMERS Growth Equity, and Fidelity Management & Research Company.
- HighFive Healthcare, a Birmingham, Ala.-based dental partnership organization, raised $100 million in funding led by Norwest.
- Limble, a Lehi, Utah-based computerized maintenance management systems provider, raised $58 million in Series B funding led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
- Captions, a New York-based A.I. creative studio, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Kleiner Perkins led the round and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and SV Angel.
- Acryl Data, a Mountain View, Calif.-based productivity platform for data teams, raised $21 million in Series A funding. 8VC partner Bhaskar Ghosh led the round and was joined by Sherpalo Ventures founder Ram Shriram, and Vercel founder and CEO Guillermo Rauch.
- Focused Energy, an Austin, Texas- and Darmstadt, Germany-based fusion-based clean alternative energy, raised an additional $11 million in Series A funding. Prime Movers Lab led the round and was joined by VCP Capital and Tony Florence.
- TreaTech, a Lonay, Switzerland-based waste treatment company, raised CHF 9 million in Series A funding. Engie New Venture and Montrose Environmental Group co-led the round and were joined by the EIC Fund, Sipchem Europe, CMA CGM Fund for Energies, and Holdigaz.
- DUOS, a Minneapolis-based digital health company, raised an additional $10 million in funding co-led by Primetime Partners, SJF Ventures, and CEOC’s Aging Innovation Fund.
- Hyfé, a San Francisco-based wastewater transformation company, raised $9 million in seed funding. Synthesis Capital led the round and was joined by The Engine, Refactor Capital, Supply Change Capital, Overwater Ventures, X Factor Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.
- WindBorne Systems, a Palo Alto-based climate tech company operating smart weather balloons, raised $6 million in seed funding. Footwork led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures, Pear VC, Ubiquity Ventures, Harvest Ventures, Humba Ventures, Jetstream, and Convective Capital.
- Hypar, a Culver City, Calif.-based generative building platform, raised $5.5 million in Series A funding. Brick & Mortar Ventures led the round and was joined by Building Ventures.
- Crux, a remote-based finance platform for the energy transition, raised $4.25 million in seed extension funding led by Ardent Venture Partners.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Bernhard Capital Partners agreed to acquire Optimum Energy, a Seattle-based HVAC optimization solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- GAI Consultants, a Comvest portfolio company, acquired Eland Engineering, a Fort Lauderdale-based planning, engineering, and environmental consulting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Fortis acquired SmartPay, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based embedded payments provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Insurance Quantified acquired Groundspeed Analytics, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based underwriting platform for commercial insurance. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Labrador acquired Argyle, an Atlanta-based advisory, design, and ESG firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Stone-Goff Partners, a Boston- and New York-based private equity firm, raised $175 million for a fund focused on majority investments in B2B services companies.
PEOPLE
- Eclipse, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm, hired Kaitlyn Glancy as a partner. Formerly, she was with Flexport.
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