July 3, 2025 • 8 mins
Collab Capital is a venture firm investing at the intersection of innovation and inclusion. It backs early-stage, tech-enabled companies addressing critical needs across workforce, healthcare and community infrastructure. On June 11, 2025, Collab announced the close of its second fund with $75 million in committed capital.
Jewel Burks Solomon, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Collab Capital, explains how she draws on her experience as the first Head of Google Startups in the United States to help new companies get off the ground.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Bloomberg business Week Daily reporting from the magazine
that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies,
and trends shaping today's complex economy, plus global business, finance
and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Weekdaily
Podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
In the month of May, Bloomberg News came out and
said It's never been harder to make it in venture capital.
This is hundreds of small VC firms struggling to raise
money in the current market, with the emerging managers seeing
their total funding in the US declined to about seventeen
billion dollars last year from sixty four billion in twenty
twenty one. I will say that's not the case. For
our next guest, who recently did a fundraise.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm very excited, all right, Well to hear from her, Well,
let's get to a club.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Capital is what we're talking about. Actually, a second fund
was seventy five million in committed capital to invest in
early stage startups addressing foundational needs across work, healthcare, and
community infrastructure. And so we want to talk about it
and see what she's up to. Let's head to Atlanta, Georgia.
She is the co founder and managing partner of Collab
Capital jewel Burg Solomon. She was head of Google for
(01:19):
Startups US, where she created initiatives that deployed over forty
five million in non dilutive capital to Black and Latino
led businesses since twenty twenty. Jule, great to have you here.
You know a lot about getting money into areas, and
you know startup entrepreneurs who maybe don't find it so
(01:39):
easy to raise capital. First of all, the fundraise, let's
go there, because it has been hard to raise money
in the VC world. How did you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Certainly, and thanks so much for having me. It was
not easy.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
It was a little bit challenging, But I think it
came all together because of relationships and spending a lot
of time. We spent a lot of time on the
road meeting with limited partners, getting them excited about our
vision for shared prosperity and really telling a different story
about how we're finding incredible entrepreneurs who are building a
(02:15):
different type of future. And so I think that's what
what got our limited partners excited. We had a number
of LPs that were partnered with us in the first fund,
which was a fifty million dollar fund that we closed
back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
A number of our LPs.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Came back to the second fund, and then we welcomed
some new names as well. So we're really excited to
now have fresh capital to continue on our journey.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Because I'm here on the East coast Jewel, I talk
much more often with private equity people than with VC
people at a far earlier stage. It's more like one
in a thousand I know with VC than it is
with PE. But I'm always excited to hear from VC
people about their success stories. So, what are some of
(03:01):
the companies that you've invested in that have really been
winners for you?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Yeah, So we're still early, so we can't call out
the winners quite yet because we're still waiting on those
exits to occur. But we do have some incredibly talented
and great companies that are on the right trajectory, so
some that I'll just call out because they're killing it
right now. We have a company called Reverie, which is
(03:29):
in the media space, a company called intus Care, which
is in the healthcare space. Pace in particular for elder
care technology for elder care facilities. We have a company,
our only consumer product company, hair Brella.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
They're having a breakout year and all of.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
These companies that I'm mentioning, they're beyond ten million dollars
in recurring revenue. They're meeting their customers and really having
a lot of success.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
With hair Brella, that's something I don't have. I think.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It's for everybody. It's for everyone.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Something interesting about that business is people when they hear
the name, they're like, oh, it must just be for women,
But somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty percent.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Of her customers are men.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
There's a ton of different products, and it's really reimagining
headware and rainwear and swim caps.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And they have all types of products for just about anyone.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, and even for kids when it comes to swim caps.
I am curious how you pick and choose and what
do you think in terms of the runway to ultimately
some kind of liquidity event, whether it's an IPO or
selling it off, Like how long do you foresee that
you need to be funding Because we do find whether
it's because of private credit, private equity, there's like a
lot of money that's been slashing around that it enables
(04:46):
companies to stay private longer. But having said that, it
also means you've got to make sure that investors can
be patient and write it out. So I'm looking at
you know, what is your runway for us a lot
of these companies is three to five years? Or how
are you thinking about it?
Speaker 5 (05:02):
Yeah, when we meet companies and underwrite those investments, we're
typically looking at a ten year time horizon because we're
investing at the seed stage primarily, and so we're going
to be with these companies for a long time.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
We're ready for that long haul.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
But we are seeing companies that are really moving quickly
towards revenues that we think will be will equip them
to sell. So some of those companies I just mentioned,
they're well on their way and we expect exits within
the next three to five years out of majority of
the portfolio.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
What's the ideal exit look like to you, because again
in private equity, it's a tough time for exits. Obviously,
you have ample time to get there since you're looking
out so far, But what do you want to be doing?
Do you want to be selling something do you want
to have an IPO? Has it changed?
Speaker 5 (05:55):
I think because the IPO markets have not been as
open as we like, you know we are. We are
really underwriting a number of different potentialities in terms of
private equity purchasing, strategics purchasing. But for us, we're looking
at every deal that we do, we want it to
(06:16):
be capable of returning the fund. So our first fund
was fifty million, so that means that you know, we're
investing in companies with the hopes that they will return
at least fifty million back to the fund. Second fund
is seventy five million, so that means the bar is
raised a bit in terms of the deals that we
will do in that fund. But across the board, we're
very open to what makes sense for the business and
(06:37):
really making those strategic partnerships so that we can introduce
our portfolio companies to the right buyer at the right time.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
You've emphasized that experience on the ground lead to the
most powerful innovations, and I'm just wondering if you could,
you know, share an example from your portfolio or from
your experience where you've seen a mar get kind of
unlocked or opened.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Up absolutely one of my favorite examples from the portfolio.
Another star in the portfolio is a company called Kueleina Health.
It's founded by a woman who was a registered dietitian,
Vanessa Rosetto, and she was so close to this problem
of the fact that your everyday person hasn't historically had
access to a registered dietitian or nutrition help to help
(07:25):
them along on their healthcare journey. And so having her
experience working with patients, she's been able to build an
incredible company in Kuleina Health, where they are really focused
on patient outcomes and delivering incredible care to folks along
their nutrition journey.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, an interesting portfolio of companies. Juli, We've got a run,
but hopefully we can check in with you soon in
the future Again. Jul Burke Solomon. She's co founder and
managing partner of Collab Capital, joining us. I love the
VC world. I love the idea in terms of you
get kind of clues of what's to come. Maybe me too.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I think it's and also your bets that are winners
pay off big.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, right, but you got to make a lot of bets.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
This is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast, available on
Apple Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen
live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern on
Bloomberg dot Com, the iHeartRadio app, tune In, and the
Bloomberg Business app. You can also watch us live every
weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg terminal
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Bloomberg business Week Daily reporting from the magazine
that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies,
and trends shaping today's complex economy, plus global business, finance
and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Weekdaily
Podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
In the month of May, Bloomberg News came out and
said It's never been harder to make it in venture capital.
This is hundreds of small VC firms struggling to raise
money in the current market, with the emerging managers seeing
their total funding in the US declined to about seventeen
billion dollars last year from sixty four billion in twenty
twenty one. I will say that's not the case. For
our next guest, who recently did a fundraise.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm very excited, all right, Well to hear from her, Well,
let's get to a club.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Capital is what we're talking about. Actually, a second fund
was seventy five million in committed capital to invest in
early stage startups addressing foundational needs across work, healthcare, and
community infrastructure. And so we want to talk about it
and see what she's up to. Let's head to Atlanta, Georgia.
She is the co founder and managing partner of Collab
Capital jewel Burg Solomon. She was head of Google for
(01:19):
Startups US, where she created initiatives that deployed over forty
five million in non dilutive capital to Black and Latino
led businesses since twenty twenty. Jule, great to have you here.
You know a lot about getting money into areas, and
you know startup entrepreneurs who maybe don't find it so
(01:39):
easy to raise capital. First of all, the fundraise, let's
go there, because it has been hard to raise money
in the VC world. How did you do it?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Certainly, and thanks so much for having me. It was
not easy.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
It was a little bit challenging, But I think it
came all together because of relationships and spending a lot
of time. We spent a lot of time on the
road meeting with limited partners, getting them excited about our
vision for shared prosperity and really telling a different story
about how we're finding incredible entrepreneurs who are building a
(02:15):
different type of future. And so I think that's what
what got our limited partners excited. We had a number
of LPs that were partnered with us in the first fund,
which was a fifty million dollar fund that we closed
back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
A number of our LPs.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Came back to the second fund, and then we welcomed
some new names as well. So we're really excited to
now have fresh capital to continue on our journey.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Because I'm here on the East coast Jewel, I talk
much more often with private equity people than with VC
people at a far earlier stage. It's more like one
in a thousand I know with VC than it is
with PE. But I'm always excited to hear from VC
people about their success stories. So, what are some of
(03:01):
the companies that you've invested in that have really been
winners for you?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Yeah, So we're still early, so we can't call out
the winners quite yet because we're still waiting on those
exits to occur. But we do have some incredibly talented
and great companies that are on the right trajectory, so
some that I'll just call out because they're killing it
right now. We have a company called Reverie, which is
(03:29):
in the media space, a company called intus Care, which
is in the healthcare space. Pace in particular for elder
care technology for elder care facilities. We have a company,
our only consumer product company, hair Brella.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
They're having a breakout year and all of.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
These companies that I'm mentioning, they're beyond ten million dollars
in recurring revenue. They're meeting their customers and really having
a lot of success.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
With hair Brella, that's something I don't have. I think.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It's for everybody. It's for everyone.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Something interesting about that business is people when they hear
the name, they're like, oh, it must just be for women,
But somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty percent.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Of her customers are men.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
There's a ton of different products, and it's really reimagining
headware and rainwear and swim caps.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And they have all types of products for just about anyone.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, and even for kids when it comes to swim caps.
I am curious how you pick and choose and what
do you think in terms of the runway to ultimately
some kind of liquidity event, whether it's an IPO or
selling it off, Like how long do you foresee that
you need to be funding Because we do find whether
it's because of private credit, private equity, there's like a
lot of money that's been slashing around that it enables
(04:46):
companies to stay private longer. But having said that, it
also means you've got to make sure that investors can
be patient and write it out. So I'm looking at
you know, what is your runway for us a lot
of these companies is three to five years? Or how
are you thinking about it?
Speaker 5 (05:02):
Yeah, when we meet companies and underwrite those investments, we're
typically looking at a ten year time horizon because we're
investing at the seed stage primarily, and so we're going
to be with these companies for a long time.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
We're ready for that long haul.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
But we are seeing companies that are really moving quickly
towards revenues that we think will be will equip them
to sell. So some of those companies I just mentioned,
they're well on their way and we expect exits within
the next three to five years out of majority of
the portfolio.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
What's the ideal exit look like to you, because again
in private equity, it's a tough time for exits. Obviously,
you have ample time to get there since you're looking
out so far, But what do you want to be doing?
Do you want to be selling something do you want
to have an IPO? Has it changed?
Speaker 5 (05:55):
I think because the IPO markets have not been as
open as we like, you know we are. We are
really underwriting a number of different potentialities in terms of
private equity purchasing, strategics purchasing. But for us, we're looking
at every deal that we do, we want it to
(06:16):
be capable of returning the fund. So our first fund
was fifty million, so that means that you know, we're
investing in companies with the hopes that they will return
at least fifty million back to the fund. Second fund
is seventy five million, so that means the bar is
raised a bit in terms of the deals that we
will do in that fund. But across the board, we're
very open to what makes sense for the business and
(06:37):
really making those strategic partnerships so that we can introduce
our portfolio companies to the right buyer at the right time.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
You've emphasized that experience on the ground lead to the
most powerful innovations, and I'm just wondering if you could,
you know, share an example from your portfolio or from
your experience where you've seen a mar get kind of
unlocked or opened.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Up absolutely one of my favorite examples from the portfolio.
Another star in the portfolio is a company called Kueleina Health.
It's founded by a woman who was a registered dietitian,
Vanessa Rosetto, and she was so close to this problem
of the fact that your everyday person hasn't historically had
access to a registered dietitian or nutrition help to help
(07:25):
them along on their healthcare journey. And so having her
experience working with patients, she's been able to build an
incredible company in Kuleina Health, where they are really focused
on patient outcomes and delivering incredible care to folks along
their nutrition journey.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, an interesting portfolio of companies. Juli, We've got a run,
but hopefully we can check in with you soon in
the future Again. Jul Burke Solomon. She's co founder and
managing partner of Collab Capital, joining us. I love the
VC world. I love the idea in terms of you
get kind of clues of what's to come. Maybe me too.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I think it's and also your bets that are winners
pay off big.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, right, but you got to make a lot of bets.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
This is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast, available on
Apple Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen
live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern on
Bloomberg dot Com, the iHeartRadio app, tune In, and the
Bloomberg Business app. You can also watch us live every
weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg terminal
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
Carol Massar
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