Yasmin Cruz Ferrine

Entrepreneur-in-Residence Yasmin Cruz Ferrine is the co-founder and current General Partner at Visible Hands , a pre-seed fund that invests in BIPOC or woman-founded teams. Prior to this, she served as Finance Director for TogetherFUND (PAC) and Deval For All 2020 (Campaign) from November 2019 to October 2020. Yasmin also served as Head of Growth & Strategy for the Boston office of Brown Advisory from July 2017 to November 2019. Yasmin earned her Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in finance from Boston College Carroll School of Management. She also holds a Bachelor’s of Science in finance from Babson College.

You can ask me about…

• Preparing for your first fundraise
• Customer validation strategies
• Building in digital health or AI
• Getting from zero to one as an underrepresented founder
• Creating partnerships and building social capital
• Finding the right mentors and supporters

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Building a More Inclusive Venture Ecosystem: Insights from Yasmin Cruz Ferrine

As a general partner and co-founder of Visible Hands VC, Yasmin Cruz Ferrine is working to reshape the venture capital landscape. Her pre-seed venture capital fund focuses on funding underrepresented founders, helping them navigate the critical journey from zero to one. With expertise in fundraising, customer validation, and scaling strategies, Yasmin brings both practical knowledge and a vision for a more inclusive future in venture capital.

Currently, Yasmin’s attention is captured by the transformative potential of digital health and artificial intelligence. “I’m excited about how AI is going to allow customers, people, all kinds of stakeholders to have more agency,” she shares. She sees particular promise in AI’s power to personalize experiences and increase accuracy across various applications.

However, Yasmin is also deeply aware of the challenges facing underrepresented founders in today’s venture landscape. “Funding is down in different categories by 70%,” she notes, acknowledging the difficult reality of the current market. “Until we get to a place where race or gender aren’t components of one’s ultimate ability to attract capital, we need to find ways to help underrepresented founders meet the right capital partners, meet the right customers, and create opportunity.”

Drawing from personal experience, Yasmin understands that fundraising cycles tend to be longer for women of color. Her advice for handling rejection is grounded in purpose:

“You have to be focused on the ultimate ‘why’ and mission, and be open for the methods to be flexible. If you can stand on the ultimate why, hearing the nos isn’t as hard because you know what the end goal is.”

She emphasizes the importance of helping founders educate their investors while standing confidently in their mission.

For Yasmin, building social capital is just as crucial as securing financial capital. At Visible Hands, they view financial capital, social capital, and what they call “inspiration capital” as deeply intertwined.

“When people say underrepresented founders tend to be over-mentored and underfunded, what we’re looking for is mentoring that opens up your Rolodex, that helps create partnerships with customers,” she explains.

Her advice for founders new to the ecosystem, particularly those new to the country, is to find partners who go beyond pitch deck advice to provide meaningful introductions and connections.

This philosophy of meaningful support is embedded in the very name of her firm. “Our firm’s name is Visible Hands, and we do a lot of plays on being visible,” she shares. “What we like to say is go where you’re seen, surrounded, and supported. And you know when you’ve achieved that.”

Yasmin’s own source of inspiration comes from trailblazer Shirley Chisholm and her famous concept: “If there isn’t a seat at the table for you, bring your own folding chair.” This principle has been a guiding theme throughout her life. But inspiration, she notes, can be found in unexpected places: “Beauty is in a lot of places. Things that don’t have anything to do with business have also been inspiration for me.”

Looking ahead to her role as Entrepreneur in Residence, Yasmin is eager to engage with students and understand the problems they want to solve.

“There’s always a place for people who may not be encumbered by boundaries or ‘this is how we’ve done this always,’” she reflects. “Young people and students tend to live closer to that limitless perspective.”

For students and early-stage founders looking to connect with resources, Yasmin recommends exploring platforms like Rubeus, which helps guide entrepreneurs in developing their pitch materials. It’s just one example of the many tools and communities available to support the next generation of diverse founders in their entrepreneurial journey.