Arian Simone brings an unusual background to venture capital, having built her career as a PR and marketing entrepreneur serving major entertainment clients like Sony Pictures and Disney before becoming an angel investor and then VC, which gives her a storyteller and brand-builder perspective rather than a traditional finance background. She combines her role as a motivational author and speaker with investing, teaching founders about abundance mindset and resilience while creating hands-on pitch programs and platforms specifically designed to help women of color entrepreneurs gain visibility and funding.

• Expanding venture capital into African markets and bridging the economic gap between America and the continent. Highly engaged in cross border economic development, specifically building pathways from cities like Atlanta to Accra. A great example of this is a recent microfinance initiative launched in Ghana, which culminated in a live pitch event where an African female founder was awarded 100,000 Ghanaian Cedis to scale a business.
• Championing Black female entrepreneurs and actively working to close the persistent funding gap for women of color. Driven by the belief that women have historically built economies but remain severely underfunded by traditional institutions. For instance, a recent message highlighted the staggering statistic regarding the tiny fraction of total venture capital that goes to women, tying this directly to a broader mission of hosting dedicated pitch competitions during Women's History Month to distribute capital to overlooked founders.
• Valuing the lifelong entrepreneurial journey and the sheer resilience required to survive the inevitable highs and lows of business. Deeply relates to founders who have possessed a self starter mentality since childhood. As an example, a recent reflection detailed a personal history of early business ventures, moving from running lemonade stands and selling flowers in middle school to eventually building a large scale investment platform.
• Prioritizing operational excellence and the ability to build a highly competent, autonomous team. Appreciates founders and operators who can execute at a high level without requiring constant micromanagement. This was clearly demonstrated when walking into a massive international launch event and feeling completely at peace, noting how relieving it was to step back from day to day coordination while the staff flawlessly executed the vision.