Fearless Fund VC Firm Nixes Black Business Grant to End Suit

Arian Simone, center left, and Ayana Parsons, center right, co-founders and CEOs of The Fearless Fund, speak to journalists outside federal court in Miami, on Jan. 31.

Photographer: Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

A venture capital firm will shut down a program that provided grant funding to Black women entrepreneurs in order to end a discrimination case brought by a conservative advocacy group led by longtime diversity, equity, and inclusion opponent Edward Blum.

The Fearless Fund and the American Alliance for Equal Rights agreed to a settlement that will prompt the litigation’s dismissal, according to a Wednesday court filing.