Zeal Capital Partners, A $60M+ VC Fund, Has Appointed A Black Woman To Lead

Zeal Capital Partners has a new leader.

The Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm recently announced that Stefanie Thomas has been appointed as its Managing Director. She comes with more than a decade of venture deal-making and leadership experience.

In her new role at Zeal, Thomas will oversee the firm’s expanded commitment to Inclusive Investing™ under the new Barclays Black Formation Investments (BBFI) initiative, a pioneering pre-seed investment platform backed by Barclays and managed by Zeal Capital Partners. Built to propel the next generation of Black-led companies, BBFI will provide critical early-stage capital and support to ambitious founders who are building high-growth technology companies primarily across the US.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Stefanie to Zeal Capital Partners, to spearhead a timely effort to propel the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs and companies shaping the future of technology and business at scale,” said Nasir Qadree, Founder and Managing Partner, Zeal Capital Partners in a news release. “Stefanie’s leadership will add to our continuing commitment to provide capital and support systems to businesses that produce outsized returns, empower diverse management teams, and help grow the next generation of venture capital professionals.”

“I’m thrilled to join Zeal Capital Partners to support the mission of democratizing capital access so that the most talented teams and business ideas can thrive,” Thomas said. “My work and life experiences have helped me to see investment opportunities beyond a traditional investing lens, and I’m looking forward to using that experience to identify founders with unique and important ideas that will unlock value for both our industry and the world.”

Thomas is a founding member and investor at Impact America Fund (IAF) where she helped grow the company from $7M to $110M AUM.