Exclusive: Primary Venture Partners launches its DEI-focused Factor Fellowship

We don’t talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, as much as we used to.

At least, that seems to be true from my vantage point—I definitely get fewer DEI pitches than I used to, and it doesn’t naturally “come up” as often. Simultaneously and more broadly, there’s a growing conservative backlash against DEI, as some states ban DEI initiatives. While the conversation about DEI may have gotten politicized, the data certainly demonstrates that there’s a lack of diversity in the corporate world—especially so in tech.

There’s all sorts of data to swim in. On the VC side, for example, only about 17% of decision-makers are women, per data from PitchBook. On the startup side, almost 80% of funding and about 75% of deals went to all-male founder teams, according to 2023 PitchBook data. In 2023, VC dollars to Black founders reached $705 million, the first time since 2016 that figure didn’t reach $1 billion, per Crunchbase. If you ask McKinsey, the way to make startups and venture more diverse comes down to a “systematic, business-led approach.”

That’s the sort of thinking Primary Venture Partners seems to be considering, as the firm is now launching its new Factor Fellowship, alongside several other NYC-based venture firms, Fortune has exclusively learned. Housed not under Primary but under a new nonprofit called Factor, the Factor Fellowship is a program meant to connect diverse early-career professionals with New York startups, setting them up to get key operational experience. Factor is also supported by AlleyCorp, Harlem Capital, Zeal Capital, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Venture Access Alliance.

"There's just no two ways about it,” said Primary partner and CEO-in-Residence Lisa Lewin. “Venture is incredibly exciting, but it has very high walls to it, period, both on the operator side and on the investor side.”

The fellowship is looking for people who have already worked in areas transferable to a startup—think sales, operations, and product. The program will then walk fellows through what it takes to work (and win) at a startup, organizing events and mentorship opportunities.

“In our sweet spot are folks from underrepresented backgrounds,” said Lewin. “They’re roughly three to ten years out of college and have demonstrated incredible skills, but they haven’t actually had their first shot at specifically a venture-backed startup.”

Primary partner Cassie Young said that the goal is to “find the people who may not have been able to navigate their way into that startup ecosystem in the first place." The program’s focus on minting talented operators also reflects Primary’s beliefs about what it takes to create good VCs.

"The best way to build the venture pipeline is that you can either go direct or you can do it through getting great operators in the startup ecosystem,” said Young.

Elsewhere in New York, AlleyCorp has partnered with Management Leadership for Tomorrow to launch Peerless, a pitch competition geared towards underrepresented founders. The prize at the end? One million dollars.

“We wanted to really empower these founders to say, ‘take this risk,’” said Desiree Almodovar, AlleyCorp operator-in-residence and who helped create Peerless, which will hold its first competition on June 20.

“I think a lot of underrepresented founders right now—because of the [overall] environment and the VC environment right now—are feeling very disillusioned, and feel like everyone’s turning their back on us,” said Almodovar.

That begs a question: What does it actually mean for these programs to be sustainable and ultimately successful? Lewin is direct: "Success is measured by the number of fellows who get their first job within a half-year of completing the program." To Almodovar, "success looks like getting more underrepresented founders in front of investors that are writing checks…actually creating innovation,” she said.

We don’t talk about DEI as much as we used to. But if something was important on principle before, isn't it always important? Yes, but it’s only possible to do something about it if people keep talking about it, and acting.

"We're not going to let you shut us up,” said Almodovar. “We're not going to let you say this isn't important, and we’re going to double down on saying this is really important.”

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com