The Roots‘ lead lyricist and co-founder Tariq Trotter, better known as “Black Thought, has joined a venture capital firm.
Impellent Ventures, an equity-centric venture fund that run by founder David Brown and Philip Beauregard, has chosen Black Thought as general partner of the venture fund.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on the industry and looking for new ways to invest and diversify my portfolio,” Black Thought said in a statement.
“I also get to see a lot of investment opportunities before anyone else does because of what my brand means to founders. The combination of these elements made it natural to align with Impellent Ventures. Phil and I are longtime friends and our relationship led to my first visit to the Harvard Innovation Lab in 2016. Joining Dave and Phil has been a long time coming and a natural evolution of our shared interest in helping find and fund the next great generation of entrepreneurs.”Impellent Ventures primarily concentrates on uplifting startup companies. The firm focuses on startups obtaining mentorship through a host of proven investors and successful business minds from established companies such as Paychex, Android, LinkedIn, DraftKings, and Google. Impellent Ventures gives close access to relationships and funds from Tier 1 hubs for entrepreneurs of color and trendsetters from underserved communities.
The firm has members based in several locations across the country, Rochester, Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia, The Roots’ stomping grounds.
The company intends to allocate investments towards a mixed variety of sectors, including artificial intelligence, healthcare technology, robotics, consumer goods, and apps.
“My brand is kind of like a bridge, and then people also look to my lyrical content for historical and political commentary, which helps inform them,” Black Thought told Axios recently
. “When people see me out on the street, they don’t feel I’m the sort of celebrity that [is] far removed from them, on another planet with nothing in common … There’s a blue collar rock star thing about The Roots that’s approachable and understandable, and I think any company or brand aligned with that will appear more so as well.”