Today we’d like to introduce you to Pierre Le Veaux.
Hi Pierre, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My experience as a ten year NYC Wall Street Banker and as an individual who prides himself on making meaningful introductions beyond the scope of my 9-5 has allowed me to see first-hand how hard it is for diverse founders to obtain capital as they are often lacking a “Seat At The Table”. I’ve been fortunate to make introductions and connect a number of founders with capital but I’m quickly exhausting resources (the same wealthy Angels that are committed to supporting diverse entrepreneurs are often over-tapped).
Given the creation of the platform, I now have a team of 30 plus “Family Members” who are successful executives and entrepreneurs with exits who are committed to serving as advisors to each diverse company we onboard, partnering on matters such as diligence, providing resources, and advising on the business post raise. Our goal is to help Black and Brown entrepreneurs scale their businesses so that they can approach VCs (if they eventually go that route) with proven metrics and a track record of operational success. The JOBS act allowed us to develop a solution to meet that goal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The business was founded before COVID-19, but we didn’t get up and operational until 2021. In order to do business as an equity crowdfunding platform, we sought membership with Finra, and that process was time, labor and resource-intensive for us. Looking back, we are incredibly appreciative of the rigorous examination process required in order to receive our license, and it was well worth it as we hope to be good stewards of capital.
Since we became operational approximately six months ago, we’ve raised over $360k over five campaigns for issuers that come from and serve marginalized and underserved communities. Our current campaigns consist of a women-owned independent publishing company that highlights non-fiction stories in the spaces of wellness, social justice, LGBTQIA+, and other genres honoring and authored by marginalized peoples; a group of Black fathers who are the first Black-owned meal prep company in NJ and the first Black-owned ready-to-eat meal company to ship nationwide making nutritional food accessible and affordable; an app that will provide the world’s first social impact cryptocurrency based on Ethereum’s open-source blockchain, rewarding people for doing good; and an app that provides users with a mobile ecosystem to get to know their neighbors and members of the local community. Seed At The Table is giving these companies access to resources that they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to access.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Seed At The Table is a mission-driven capital raising equity crowdfunding platform committed to connecting diverse entrepreneurs with accredited and non-accredited investors to obtain equity in early-stage BIPOC led companies through modest investment amounts.
What sets us apart from other equity crowdfunding platforms is that founders have the opportunity to leverage the expertise of Seed’s 30+ partners. Our partners provide white-glove services tailored to the communities we serve because we have a sense of empathy, understanding, and patience that other equity crowdfunding platforms may not be willing or in a position to extend. We provide underrepresented founders with a safe space to be vulnerable and to communicate their struggles with accessing capital while genuinely standing should-to- shoulder with them in an effort to secure access.
In the same way that our team is composed of subject-matter experts who come from marginalized communities, we also want to provide investment thresholds (as low as $100) that are accessible for non-accredited investors that would otherwise be barred from participating in investing.
The mission is simple: dismantle the racial funding gap and create a more diverse and sustainable future where underserved and often underestimated entrepreneurs and non-accredited investors can connect.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Earn Your Leisure, Market Mondays, Anything by Malcolm Gladwell both books and podcasts.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.seedatthetable.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seedatthetable/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeedAtTheTable
- Twitter: @SeedAtTheTable2
