Digital payment processor PayPal and Truist Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of financial services firm Truist Financial, co-anchored a $62.1m fund for venture capital firm Zeal Capital Partners on Monday.
The fund’s limited partners include sportswear vendor Foot Locker, financial services groups Bank of America and Synchrony, RockCreek, Skoll Foundation, Society for Human Resource Management, Hampton University Endowment, Southern New Hampshire University and Gary Community Investments.
Founded in 2020, Zeal Capital backs early-stage companies managed by founders from minority backgrounds. Areas of focus include technologies and products that help reduce the wealth and skills gap.
Zeal Fund I initially had a $50m target, having already secured PayPal as a cornerstone investor for a $22.3m close in November 2020 as part of the latter’s $50m commitment to diversity and inclusion-minded funds.
Vanessa Vreeland, head of Truist Ventures, said: “Truist Ventures is committed to investing in and supporting diverse founders, while delivering access to innovative solutions for our clients.”
Peter Sanborn, managing partner for PayPal Ventures, added: “Zeal Capital stood out to PayPal because of our shared belief that access to financial services creates opportunity.”
