Business as a Circle ⚫️

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Magarac Venture Partners launches with eye toward diversity

A trio of venture capitalists and a 12-year NFL veteran have joined forces to launch Magarac Venture Partners (MVP), a new firm committed to supporting underrepresented founders from Pittsburgh and the Midwest.

The three VCs, Jay Katarincic, Mike Stubler and Zach Malone come from one of Pittsburgh’s largest venture firms, Draper Triangle Ventures, and the fourth, Will Allen, is a prolific angel investor and former Steelers safety. MVP will focus on industries like AI, robotics, autonomy and health tech. The partners will look for startups with diverse leadership and aim for about a third of the funding to go to underrepresented groups.

“VCs who aren’t thinking about (diversity) are going to miss out on those returns,” says Will Allen. “I’m not out to prove that, I just know what the data says.”

From the blog

The shape of business tomorrow is a circle

You’ve heard the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle.” While the mantra has good intent, what if the model didn’t stop at recycling? What if we preserved and repurposed resources into next-generation products with greater purpose and intent?

This is the circular economy. A business-focused vision that sees every resource – materials, products, byproducts, and goods – having the potential for an extended or new life, for new use. And Covestro is pioneering a new way in this economy.

Aleta Richards – who leads commercial operations for Covestro’s Coatings, Adhesives, and Specialties business – finds herself as part of the movement, focusing on ways the company and society can impact not just the present but the generations to come.