Talent is evenly distributed.
Opportunity is not.
Your lived experience is
your competitive advantage.
THE best products
are aligned with the values
of the people they serve.
Austin Clements is co-founder and Managing Partner at Slauson & Co., a Los Angeles based early-stage venture capital firm rooted in economic inclusion. Slauson & Co. is proudly backed by some of the world’s most influential tech companies such as Google, Meta, Twitter, PayPal, and others. At Slauson, Austin focuses on investing in technologies that empower small business owners.
Prior to this role, Austin was at TenOneTen Ventures, a data focused seed fund based in LA. He has also worked in investment management and founded a mobile app development firm to serve small businesses.
Austin is the founding Chair of PledgeLA, the nation’s largest city-wide initiative to promote diversity in the local tech community. He has served on the board of Knight Foundation and HBCUvc. Austin received his MBA from NYU Stern and his BA from Morehouse College.
Ajay Relan is an investor, entrepreneur, and community builder. Prior to Slauson & Co., Ajay was a founding Partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners. With a keen focus on brand building and storytelling, Ajay's passion lies in identifying trends and engineering culturally aligned brands.
A lifelong Angeleno, Ajay has established a business portfolio grounded in community. His most recent collaboration, Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, has become a staple, facilitating productivity and collaboration in diverse neighborhoods across Los Angeles.
In 2012, Ajay founded #HashtagLunchbag, a grassroots movement that has fed 1,000,000+ hungry and unhoused people in 150+ cities around the globe. He went on to establish the Living Through Giving Foundation, a non-profit platform empowering the creation of programs engaging diverse groups of people to contribute to various causes in their local communities.
Ajay is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara.
Brittany Crockett has a passion for advocacy, entrepreneurship, and storytelling. Prior to Slauson & Co. she was the Director of Partner Development and Licensing at 4thMVMT, a Los Angeles social equity startup. There she helped clear a path for aspiring entrepreneurs in the recently-legalized cannabis industry, who came from communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Brittany oversaw the onboarding, training, and licensing required for these entrepreneurs to gain entry into the quickly expanding cannabis market.
Brittany brings a diverse skill-set and background to the team, with professional experiences ranging from broadcast journalism, public affairs, politics, advocacy, and communications, to social equity.
At Slauson & Co. Brittany manages content strategy, LP and Founder communications and engagement, events, and impact initiatives.
She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and holds a graduate degree in Race Media and Social Justice from the University of London, Goldsmiths.
Jesús Salas is rooted in the belief that making culturally conscious investments is a path to increasing opportunity and positive economic outcomes for otherwise overlooked communities and founders. Jesús is a former Associate with Omidyar Network where he supported the sourcing and evaluation of venture investments and tools that catalyzed the supply of purpose-driven technology. Jesús has worked domestically and abroad in a variety of capacities such as a management consultant, impact investor and investment banker with global organizations working across industries ranging from agriculture, education, and financial technology.
Outside of Slauson & Co., Jesús is involved in a range of organizations committed to increasing diversity at all professional levels. These efforts include the Toigo Foundation, the Access Project, and VCFamilia. Jesús is a 2021 HBCUvc Emerging Venture Leaders Award recipient and a Board Member of Microlumbia- Columbia Business School’s student-run impact investing fund.
Jesús is from the northside of Fort Worth, Texas and is the son of Mexican immigrants. Jesús is a proud first-generation graduate of Stanford University, holds an MBA from Columbia University and recently completed a fellowship with the Just Economy Institute.
Aileen Kim is a lifelong learner. Prior to Slauson & Co, Aileen interned at The Walt Disney Company, Nuleep, and the Greater LA branch of UN Women in controls, strategy, and engagement. Through USC’s Asian Pacific American Student Services center (APASS), she developed Connections!, an annual career development program with monthly events. Aileen also led diversity and inclusion initiatives around mental health, education, and social justice to foster inclusive spaces in business, along with annual community service days and inspirational, cultural events while at USC. Passionate about the intersection of business and social good, Aileen strives to provide a new perspective in all the projects she touches.
Aileen is a graduate of USC with majors in Business Administration and Global Studies and a minor in Classics.
Brandon's passion for music and sports has been the driving force behind his life and career. With 15 years of experience in brand marketing, content direction, and strategy, he has worked at companies like Apple, Complex, Finish Line, GUESS Originals, and the NBA. In 2018, he achieved the honor of a Clio Award, recognizing his role in establishing a partnership between Migos and Finish Line, along with the content projects he oversaw during that time, which also earned a cover feature in Ad Age. His favorite project was producing the Nas "Illmatic" 25th Anniversary retrospective for Apple Music.
Brandon oversees the content strategy and creative execution for Slauson & Co.'s brand. Furthermore, he provides marketing and content support to S&Co.’s portfolio companies. He is also our in-house hot sauce sommelier.
Originally hailing from a small town in Northwest Illinois, that we won’t make you Google, Brandon later settled in Carmel, Indiana, following his studies in marketing and music business at Western Illinois University.
Miki Reynolds is the Head of Programs at Slauson & Co, where she develops and leads programs - like the Friends & Family accelerator - that advance the firm's mission of economic inclusion.
She brings a fierce passion for supporting an inclusive community of entrepreneurs, having directly advised 350+ early stage companies from idea to seed stage, led mostly by Black, AAPI, Latinx and Women founders.
Prior to Slauson & Co, she was the CEO & Co-Founder of Grid110, an award winning non-profit providing free entrepreneurship programs to underrepresented founders in partnership with the City of Los Angeles.
She has spent the last decade as an active community leader within the LA tech and startup ecosystem, sits on the advisory committee for PledgeLA and recently joined the board for Grid110.
Waverly is driven by an inquisitive spirit and an imaginative approach to doing things differently.
Prior to Slauson & Co., she was an Associate at Goldman Sachs in the Executive Office and Global Markets divisions. During her time at Goldman Sachs, Waverly helped steer and launch firmwide impact initiatives including One Million Black Women, a $10 billion investment initiative, and Launch with GS, a $1bn investment strategy. Her efforts focused on increasing equity and access for underserved entrepreneurs. Within Global Markets, Waverly supported capital raising strategy for hedge funds, with a focus on ESG funds.
Waverly is also a graduate of the University of Southern California where she majored in International Relations Global Business.
Clarissa Kim is a Content Coordinator at Slauson & Co. with a background in product development and marketing. Before joining Slauson & Co., she interned with PledgeLA, Grid110, and several startups, gaining experience in programming, community management, and product management. She was a startup consultant at TroyLabs, her university's biggest entrepreneurship organization, and founded her own music tech startup her junior year.
Clarissa graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Music Industry.
Prado is an ecommerce and logistics platform for food entrepreneurs.
Finli helps small businesses get paid by managing customer communications, sending invoices, processing payments, and chasing down customer payments.
EngineEars is a platform for audio engineers, artists, and producers to streamline the creative, production, and distribution process.
Pressed Roots is a "Blow Out Bar" for women with textured hair.
The Folklore Group is an ecommerce platform for luxury and emerging brands from Africa and the diaspora.
Group Shop enables ecommerce brands to provide discounts and cash back to customers for promoting their products.
Ease is a platform that helps you start, build, grow and manage your own clinical practice.
Penelope.co is a fintech company reimagining retirement solutions for small businesses and their employees.
Fêtefully digitizes the wedding and event planning experience.
Chipper is a simple app that empowers student loan borrowers to optimize repayment and chip away debt faster.
Lex is an app for finding LGBTQ+ friends and community.
BoxedUp is an on-demand equipment rental marketplace that connects content creators and equipment owners.
STEMuli is the Educational Metaverse transforming the student learning experience.
With Crate you can curate and discover the best content from anywhere.
Fctry Lab is a Footwear Innovation Lab.
Bags is the growth financing marketplace helping small businesses secure the bag.
Misha’s makes the very BEST Dairy-Free Dairy products in the market!
El Camino is a community-based travel booking and content platform targeting single, deluxe, female travelers.
Sienna Naturals is dermatologist-tested, clean hair care designed for people with texture.
A-Frame Brands is a portfolio of talent-led clean beauty/personal care brands prioritizing impactful consumer-based solutions
Gigs is a marketplace for the US hourly worker economy.
Loma is a marketing platform supporting franchise businesses.
Tourus is a platform that helps properties and renters manage the touring and leasing process.
Charger Help is an EV Charging Reliability Company.
Bundle is a platform that procures materials for construction SMBs.
Cohart is a vertical marketplace for creators and their collectors to connect and monetize their communities online.
SimpleCar is redefining vehicle ownership through a customer-centric, flexible, and debt free way to drive.
We've built a foundation to prove that investing inclusively has positive benefits for all. Check out our Inclusion Reports here:
VC firm Slauson & Co. has closed a $100 million Fund II, a big step up from its initial $75 million fund. Read more.
First, is the hands-on presence in the company of Ron Conway, arguably Silicon Valley’s most famous early-stage investor. Read more.
Last week, we announced Friends & Family, a 12-week accelerator where 20 companies across the country will receive $20,000 in non-dilutive capital. Read more.
The company is putting $50 million in Black and Latino-led venture capital firms. Read more.
Late July, we excitedly committed $2.5 million of independent GP (General Partner) capital to Black and Latino/Latina investing partners. Read More.
As a Black man in venture capital, the last few months have been eye-opening. The national conversations about social justice led to an increased awareness of the challenges faced by underrepresented founders and funders in our industry. Read More.
