A call by GGV Capital to other top VCs and startup founders late last week to raise money to help the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the US has raised $5 million in less than two weeks.
On March 18, GGV said it would match $100,000 in donations to organizations supporting the AAPI community in the wake of the horrific shootings in the Atlanta area.
—GGV Capital (@GGVCapital) March 19, 2021
"We condemn racism, bigotry, and hate," said GGV in the tweet. "But words aren't enough: action must follow. We have work to do and we're going to do it." The venture capital firm famous for backing hot startups such as Airbnb, Peloton, Affirm, and Poshmark, posted the call to action to support important causes such as Stop AAPI Hate, Asian American Advancing Justice Atlanta, GoFundMe Support the AAPI Community Fund, and Compassion in Oakland.
By the following Monday, the group had raised $700,000 from names such as Affirm's CEO Max Levchin and his wife, Nellie Levchin, Garry Tan of Initialized Capital, General Catalyst, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and Away cofounder Jen Rubio, tweeted Hans Tung, GGV's managing partner.
Aside from donations, other investors are also matching funds up to $100,000. Lightspeed's Jeremy Liew said on Twitter, "I'll piggyback on your diligence for checking receipts - LMK how much and to who when you guys are done." And the cofounders of Goodwater Capital, Chi-Hua Chien and Eric Kim, also tweeted that they would match donations "following the lead of our friends @GGVCapital and @hanstung."
"Together with our friends, we intend to be part of the solution in the fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion," GGV's Tung tells Insider. "Our commitment goes beyond combatting racism but also sexism and ageism." GGV has also been working with the organization All Raise to add gender diversity in board rooms, tech startups, and companies.
Law-enforcement officials are still investigating the motive behind the shootings that took place at three massage parlors in and near Atlanta on Tuesday, killing eight people, including six Asian women. A suspect, Robert Aaron Long, has been arrested.
Asian Americans have been targeted in nearly 3,800 hate incidents since March of last year, said Stop AAPI Hate, a group that collects data on hate and harassment incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US.
As a safety measure, Sarah Guo, Greylock's general partner, said she recently bought pepper spray for walking around San Francisco. "Anti-Asian violence, the intensifying cesspool of crime & homelessness, and the experiences of being yelled at about the 'Chinese flu' and followed by clearly mentally ill men puts me on edge," Guo said in a tweet earlier this month.
