She Sold A Business To Amazon. Then Raised $125 Million For This Early-Stage Investment Firm

Key Concepts

• Venture Capital (VC): Investment in early-stage companies with high growth potential.
• Collab Capital: A venture capital firm co-founded by Juel Burke Solomon, focusing on early-stage companies.
• Limited Partners (LPs): Investors in a VC fund.
• Dry Powder: Uninvested capital available for future investments.
• Shared Prosperity: A focus area for Collab Capital, aiming to improve economic mobility and access to high-paying jobs.
• Future of Work: Encompasses trends and technologies impacting employment and labor markets.
• Economic Mobility: The ability of individuals to improve their socioeconomic status.
• Future of Care: Innovations and solutions addressing gaps in healthcare access and delivery.
• Community Infrastructure: Essential services and resources that enable communities to thrive.
• Verticalized Fintech: Financial technology solutions tailored to specific industries.
• Democratizing Investment: Making investment opportunities accessible to a broader range of individuals.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: The drive and mindset of individuals who start and grow businesses.
• Exit Strategy: The plan for how investors will realize a return on their investment (e.g., acquisition, IPO).
• Agentic AI: Artificial intelligence systems that can act autonomously to achieve goals.
• Diversification: Spreading investments across different assets to reduce risk.
• HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities): Institutions of higher education founded before 1964 with the primary mission of educating African Americans.

Collab Capital: Investing in Shared Prosperity

Juel Burke Solomon, co-founder and managing partner of Collab Capital, a venture capital firm based in Atlanta, discusses her firm's investment strategy and journey. Collab Capital focuses on early-stage companies and manages approximately $125 million in assets. The firm recently raised $75 million for its second fund, following a $50 million first fund. Notable Limited Partners (LPs) include Capora Capital, Alphabet, Apple, Goldman Sachs, and PayPal.

Investment Thesis and Focus Areas

Collab Capital's core investment thesis is centered around "building blocks of shared prosperity." They believe that technology can drive a better future and that by investing in overlooked pockets of innovation, they can achieve significant returns. Their investment focus areas include:

• Future of Work: Specifically addressing economic mobility and increasing access to high-paying jobs.
• Future of Care: Utilizing technology to bridge gaps in healthcare access across the entire sector.
• Community Infrastructure: Supporting essential community needs such as transportation, digital broadband, and climate solutions.
• Education: While not a primary standalone thesis, education is considered within the broader context of root causes that impact learning outcomes.

Fund Deployment and Investment Strategy

Collab Capital has deployed capital from its second fund, with plans to make approximately 30 investments. The typical check size for initial investments is between $1 million and $2 million. The firm underwrites all investments for a 10-year period, anticipating that seed-stage companies will take 7 to 10 years to reach an exit.

Portfolio Highlights and Exciting Investments

Several portfolio companies were highlighted:

• Janta Power: An energy company developing a vertical solar panel structure, working with airports to address increasing energy demands.
• Spark Charge: A company focused on electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. Solomon expresses confidence in the long-term trend of electrification, regardless of political administrations.
• Film Hedge: A verticalized fintech company democratizing film financing by creating a marketplace for everyday individuals to invest in films they believe in.
• Hair Bella: A company co-founded by Tracy Pickett, which was Collab Capital's first investment in Fund One. Hair Bella has demonstrated consistent year-over-year performance and a deep understanding of its customer base.

The Venture Capital Landscape in 2025

Solomon describes the current venture capital environment as challenging, with "change" being the defining word for the fundraising process between their first and second funds. Market conditions, LP sentiment towards Black founders and emerging managers, and the shift from remote to in-person fundraising have all contributed to the difficulty.

Despite the hurdles, Solomon sees "glimmers of light" with an increase in IPOs and returning liquidity. She notes a positive shift in entrepreneurial mindsets, with founders becoming more realistic about valuations and focusing on fundamentals and profitability. This makes it an opportune time for Collab Capital to deploy capital.

Regarding regulatory changes, such as the new law allowing LPs to sell shares on the secondary market sooner without capital gains tax, Solomon believes it may not have a significant short-term impact on early-stage investments but acknowledges the need to monitor such developments.

Juel Burke Solomon's Entrepreneurial Journey

Solomon's entrepreneurial path began with Park Pit, a company she founded after witnessing her grandfather's struggle to find a replacement part for his farming tractor. This experience ignited her passion for solving problems, leading her to develop an AI and computer vision-powered solution for identifying and sourcing parts.

Selling to Amazon and the Aftermath

Park Pit was acquired by Amazon in 2016. Solomon admits to experiencing a period of depression after the sale, not solely due to the problem itself, but because her identity had become deeply intertwined with being the CEO of Park Pit and she had aimed for a billion-dollar exit. This experience underscored the importance of personal healing and understanding one's identity beyond their professional roles. Investing played a role in her recovery.

Lessons Learned and Advice

• On Failure: Solomon views all her experiences as learning opportunities, stating she cannot pinpoint a "failure" but rather "hard knocks" and mistakes that have prepared her for future endeavors. She emphasizes her inherent "fight" and ability to "figure things out."
• Starting a VC Firm: For aspiring VC firm founders in 2025, Solomon advises having substantial savings due to the initial lack of lucrativeness. She stresses that it's a "long game" focused on long-term returns.
• Choosing Collab Capital: Entrepreneurs should choose Collab Capital because they offer partnership from individuals who have "been in the trenches" as builders themselves. They provide extensive support, including access to their rolodex, hiring assistance, and go-to-market strategies.
• First Million Dollars: Solomon spent her first million dollars by investing in businesses, supporting family business endeavors (a gym with her mother and a car wash with her father), and angel investing before starting Collab Capital.
• Agentic AI: Solomon approaches agentic AI with curiosity rather than fear, focusing on its potential to accelerate businesses.
• Money Management: Her key advice is diversification.
• Global Investment: While Collab Capital focuses on the US, Solomon expresses personal curiosity and future investment interest in Africa, particularly Nigeria.
• Inspiring Books:
  • "No One Is Self-Made" by Dr. T. Halman
  • "The Power Law" by Sebastian Mallaby
  • "The Black Family Who Built America" by Cheryl McKisik
• Good Entrepreneur vs. Great Entrepreneur: A good entrepreneur has vision; a great entrepreneur has vision and the ability to execute it through deep study and focus.

Personal Background and Influences

Solomon grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, in a family of entrepreneurs and HBCU graduates. Her grandfather, a farmer and entrepreneur, significantly influenced her. She was a studious student at Howard University, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and participating in student government and internships.

Her early career included internships at Goldman Sachs and Google, where she developed a passion for technology. She graduated early from Howard to join Google, aiming to gain hands-on experience before eventually becoming an entrepreneur.

Solomon's pivot from Google to McMaster-Carr was driven by personal priorities, specifically the desire to be closer to family. This decision, though seemingly a step back, ultimately led her down the path to starting her own business.

She describes herself as an artist in her youth, preferring reading, drawing, and painting over cartoons. Her childhood was enriched by African-American history trivia, instilled by her mother.