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Collab Capital’s announcement that it has closed a $75 million Fund II is another reminder that private capital still flows where investors see returns, even when the political class keeps promising economic equality by fiat. The Atlanta-based firm says the new fund builds on a $50 million first fund and brings the firm’s assets under management to roughly $125 million, a tidy sum for a team that pitches “shared prosperity” as its mission. That message may play well in grant proposals and on cable panels, but the market cares about revenue and customers, not slogans.
Make no mistake: this raise didn’t happen in a vacuum — Collab’s new fund attracted serious backers, including household-name institutions from Big Tech and Wall Street, which tells you two things about the venture ecosystem. When Apple and Goldman Sachs quietly show up as limited partners, that’s validation that the firm is building something fundable, but it also shows how corporate giants co-opt buzzwords to steer capital into preferred partners. Conservatives should applaud entrepreneurs getting capital, but remain suspicious when the same institutions that dominate every sector start writing checks that shape narratives about “inclusion.”
Collab touts real portfolio wins — companies like Goodr and Culina Health are cited as evidence their model works — and private investors understandably want exposure to early-stage firms solving real problems. That said, we should judge these funds by classic conservative metrics: profitability, scalability, and whether they deliver value without relying on perpetual subsidies. If Collab’s playbook means backing founders who can build sustainable businesses in work, healthcare, and community infrastructure, then that’s a conservative win; if it becomes a conduit for identity politics over returns, taxpayers and pensioners will pay the price later.
Jewel Burks Solomon’s personal story is compelling and, for those of us who believe in upward mobility, inspiring — she co-founded Partpic and sold it to Amazon in 2016, a genuine entrepreneurial success that should be celebrated across the political spectrum. The acquisition proves she knows how to build technology that solves a real market need, and that hard work and product focus can trump the usual coastal gatekeeping. Conservatives who care about opportunities over outcomes should welcome leaders who have actually built things, not just talked about systemic problems.
Her résumé also includes leadership at Google for Startups in the United States, giving her institutional experience that helps explain why Collab has closed a larger second fund. Experience inside big tech helps founders and fund managers navigate partnerships, but it also reminds us how closely intertwined the tech giants and venture world have become. That entanglement makes it more important than ever to demand transparency and to support a meritocratic engine that rewards results rather than identity alone.
Reports note that raising this second fund took longer than the first in a tougher fundraising climate, yet Collab pushed through — a pragmatic lesson for conservatives who argue that the free market, not Washington, should sort winners and losers. Venture capital is cyclical, and optimism without discipline leads to bubbles; Collab’s focus on seed and Series A bets should be measured against hard metrics, not feel-good press. If the firm truly backs companies that solve foundational problems and create jobs, that’s something every American can support, regardless of the platitudes about shared prosperity.
At the end of the day, the best policy is simple: back entrepreneurship, insist on accountability, and reject the notion that government or corporate PR teams should pick winners based on identity. Jewel Burks Solomon’s climb from modest roots to a successful exit and now a growing venture firm is the kind of American story conservatives should defend — because real opportunity comes from markets where talent, grit, and ideas win the day. If Collab wants to earn lasting respect, it will prove its thesis with profits, jobs, and durable companies, not talking points.
