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Benjamin Vann
2025 HerGenius Pitch winners Alyssa Nichols, Anna Cobb, Paden Sickles, and Yewande Akinse. [Photo: Marquez Montoya Photography]
Compression Tech, Energy Juice Snag Top Wins at Impact Ventures’ HerGenius Pitch Competition
by Lance Murray | Apr 1, 2025
The HerGenius Pitch Competiton provided a platform for women founders to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges, investors, and industry leaders. The prize-winning pitches ranged from compression technology to a plant-based energy juice to eco-friendly footwear to a women-only strength training gym.
by Quincy Preston |
Jul 19, 2024
Amid planning disruptions and system outages, Impact Ventures also got a fresh look for its HQ and a "generous grant" from the Meadows Foundation. The nonprofit unveiled initiatives to expand its support for "underestimated" entrepreneurs.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Jun 18, 2024
Vann's news: Impact Ventures "will be considered 1 of 74 [Community Development Venture Capital] firms in the U.S."—and the second in Texas—"providing more small businesses access to equity and equity-like capital, especially in times like today where interest rates are higher and traditional debt is considered to be expensive."
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![Barbara Bush, co-founder and board chair of the nonprofit Global Health Corps, right, in conversation with Shena Ashley, vice president of Capital One community impact and investment and president at the Capital One Insight Center. [Photo: Capital One Reimagine Communities Summit 2024]](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CO.BarbaraBushPhoto3RCS.2024-crop-360x203.jpg)
by Capital One |
Jun 13, 2024
Innovators and experts share how nonprofits and corporations can work together to spur socioeconomic mobility at Capital One’s eighth annual summit.
sponsored by Capital One
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Fawn Weaver, CEO & Founder of Uncle Nearest, will be the keynote speaker at the Inclusive Capital Summit May 3-5. [Photo: Impact Ventures]
Founder of Uncle Nearest Whiskey Brand to Headline Impact Ventures’ First Inclusive Capital Summit
by Lance Murray | Feb 27, 2023
Fawn Weaver, a bestselling author, investor, entrepreneur, and the first Black woman to be founder and CEO of a major spirits brand, will headline the May 3-5 event. “The Inclusive Capital Summit will bring solution-based conversations to the forefront, equipping our community and business leaders with the knowledge, network and platform to carry their work forward," says Impact Ventures' Benjamin J. Vann.
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by Kevin Cummings |
Nov 7, 2022
At last week's Venture Dallas conference, more than 400 VCs, angel investors, startups, and business leaders gathered for a showcase of North Texas' entrepreneurial and venture ecosystem. Here's a look at the highlights—from Troy Aikman saying "There are no shortcuts" to Alto Founder Will Coleman on the power of doing "the opposite" to Mark Cuban's "ready, fire, aim" approach.
“Regions like Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth, we’re the model for the rest of the nation on how to get things done," Ross Perot Jr. said at the conference kickoff.
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by Kevin Cummings |
Oct 4, 2022
Venture Dallas 2022—a full-day conference to be held Nov. 3 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center—will connect investors from all over the U.S with the “best founders in our region” with the goal of sparking “collisions” and “meaningful connections," co-founder Aaron Pierce says. He adds that those could potentially lead to fundings—and successful exits.
Here's a look at why the North Texas startup and VC scene is hopping, and what Venture Dallas 2022 could mean for you.
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by Kevin Cummings |
Apr 14, 2022
“Entrepreneurs of color are over-mentored and undercapitalized. While others are saying, ‘Here’s a program or mentorship,’ we’ve been one of the first groups to say, ‘Here’s that, plus capital, to get you there,’” says Benjamin Vann, founder and CEO at Impact Ventures.
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Meet the Finalists: The Innovation Awards 2022, Presented by Dallas Innovates and D CEO
by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report | Oct 26, 2021
Now in its third year, the program from Dallas Innovates and D CEO honors 78 disruptors and trailblazers driving a new vision for innovation in North Texas.
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by Lauren Hawkins |
Sep 17, 2020
The virtual hackathon will kick off on Sept. 22. Developers, activists, and anyone in between is invited to participate.
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![Entrepreneurs celebrate a 2019 Impact Ventures' cohort, photographed in the time before COVID. [Photo: Impact Ventures]](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Impact-Venture-2020-cohort-ben-vann-welcome-19_970-360x203.jpg)
by Quincy Preston |
Sep 15, 2020
Founder and CEO Benjamin Vann says the startup accelerator aims to create more diverse and inclusive ecosystems.
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by Quincy Preston |
Aug 18, 2020
Launched by TWU and Stoke, the AccelerateHER incubator program reflects Denton's culture with a focus on creative, education, and lifestyle early-stage startups.
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[Photo: Impact Ventures]
Minority-Focused Startup Accelerator Aims to Help Underrepresented Startups
by Alex Edwards | Jul 16, 2020
Founder and CEO Benjamin Vann was motivated by the opportunity gap: "As of 2018, just 2 percent of minorities received venture capital funding and 2 percent of minorities were represented in the tech industry workforce,” he says. A Dallas Innovates series highlights startups in Impact Ventures' first spring program.
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by Lance Murray |
Oct 2, 2019
The nonprofit’s accelerator is intended to boost minority- and women-run startups in the tech sector. The deadline for startups to apply is Nov. 22, with the program set to kick off in March.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Oct 24, 2018
Roundtable | Our panel talks about what we can do better, right now. In the final installment of the latest Dallas Innovates roundtable series, we look at systemic issues that still need to be addressed, and the areas ripe for innovation. The discussion closes with a look into the future.
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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Oct 23, 2018
What makes North Texas a place—or a potential place—for social innovation? In part two of our roundtable series, eight experts discuss how Dallas-Fort Worth may be a unique breeding ground for social good, what attracts (and keeps) talent in the nonprofit sector, and more.
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