Marell Evans says he’s tired of being called a hustler. He’s heard the term used to describe him throughout his more than 10-year journey, which started as a Division 1 linebacker at the University of Michigan — with dreams of pro football — to the present, as he raises money for a debut venture fund from his solo GP shop, Exceptional Capital.
of venture check writers are Black — Exceptional Capital has been able to raise $20 million toward a goal of $30 million in just three weeks, Evans says. The fund won’t only focus on investing in minority-owned businesses, but Evans says he hopes he can show young Black people that there is a place for them in the venture capital industry, including at the top.
Among those backing Evans’ fund are Twitter cofounder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey, SPAC king Chamath Palihapitiya and the former CFO of both YouTube and Facebook, Gideon Yu. “Being at the front and center of some of the most cutting-edge brands in Silicon Valley and New York for nearly ten years, Marell is known to stay ahead of the curve, and we’re thrilled to see his next evolution,” Dorsey says by email.
When Evans’ football career ended, he decided to focus on his other passion: technology. After a seemingly endless interview process, he landed a gig in New York selling IBM software. This job brought Evans to Silicon Valley, where he got his first taste of venture capital from taking sales meetings with investors such as Ben Horowitz. He then moved to the startup side, taking a sales job with security platform Okta before its $1.5 billion 2017 IPO.
Despite his experience, when he met with large firms in 2021 about joining their teams they told him he was too humble or would be too much of a project to take on, he says. This didn’t make sense to him, he adds, but he took it as a sign to strike out on his own. A recent report from non profit BLCK VC found that 83% of Black partners had to launch their own fund or join an emerging manager to make partner in venture capital.