Hampton University Grad Raises 186M in Venture Capital
Nasir Qadree, the founding and managing partner at Zeal Capital Partners, had opened a coffee shop in New York City and while busing tables he ear hustled a conversation between entrepreneurs discussing start up companies and funding.
According to a Forbes interview with Jabari Young, this piqued his interest and since then Qadree has turned his curiosity into a fund that has raised a total of $186 million since its founding.
“You talk about motivation and where it all started,” Qadree says, “I credit my grandfather.”
Qadree’s grandfather was former NBA player Jackie Moore. Born in 1932 Moore, was a forward for the Philadelphia Warriors from 1954 to 1957. Reaching the epitome of basketball heights during that time in American history must have been inspiring for Qadree.
Qadree’s Zeal, an early stage venture capital firm which recently raised $82 million, works with investors such as Citi’s Impact Fund, M&T Bank, MassMutual, and HBCU endowments at Spelman College and Hampton University.
In terms of upward mobility for all, Qadree had this to say:
“We’re truly going to democratize acts of capital and think about innovations that are turbocharging economic mobility,” Qadree says. “There’s also an opportunity to disrupt systems so that more folk can get a fair swing at the plate.”
