Candice Matthews Brackeen is the Founder and CEO of Lightship Capital, the Cincinnati based portfolio service firm including accelerators Hillman and NewMe, and venture capital fund Lightship, where she serves as Managing Partner. Lighthouse companies work together in support of underrepresented, early stage, transformational businesses.
As CEO of Hillman, the first accelerator in the Midwest to provide support exclusively to this demographic, Candice has influenced state policy around economic inclusion in addition to establishing meaningful partnerships with companies like Proctor & Gamble, Kroger, and Chase, in support of Hillman’s work.
Candice raised the most money ever for a first time fund ran by a Black woman, a $50 million fund.
Candice chat's with Will Lucas about why she can't make early bets on startups, and how she impacted state and local policy to help make her Midwest community more startup friendly.
