Collab Capital

Collab Capital

Collab Capital was founded by a trio of entrepreneurs — Jewel Burks Solomon, Barry Givens, and Justin Dawkins — who each had experience building startups before turning to venture. The firm positions itself as built by founders, for founders, offering what it calls the playbook, perspective, and protection that come from knowing the founder journey firsthand. The firm invests across three thematic areas: community infrastructure, healthcare access, and economic mobility. Its portfolio includes companies like Goodr, a food-waste management and surplus-food logistics platform, and Loanwell, a fintech lender. Collab makes direct equity investments and also provides network capital and operational support. Its founders span more than 15 U.S. cities. Collab is structured as a venture capital firm rather than a family office. The team has raised at least two investment vehicles — Fund 1 and Fund 2 — according to the firm's website. The firm maintains a newsroom and publishes a jobs board, suggesting active portfolio support. No team size, AUM, or recent activity metrics are publicly disclosed. A structural differentiator: Collab explicitly integrates the founders' own startup experience into its governance, with managing partners who have built and sold companies. The firm describes itself as creating multiple pathways to shared prosperity, and it frames returns partly through the lens of community wealth creation — an uncommon posture for a venture firm.