Firm overview
Sixty8 Capital is an Indianapolis-based seed-stage fund backing companies founded by women and Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people, led by Kelli Jones. The fund is supported by Allos Ventures, a bedrock in the Midwest venture ecosystem with close to 50 years of investing in talented local entrepreneurs. Kelli is the managing director of Sixty8, while Allos serves as advisors and provides back-office support—setting Kelli up for success as she navigates being a first-time fund manager.
For the majority of her career, Kelli has been on a mission to make sure underrepresented business owners can get access to capital and technology opportunities. She’s the founder of Be Nimble, a social enterprise with the goal of creating fully inclusive tech ecosystems through accelerators, workshops, and pitch competitions. Her foundation has trained over 300 entrepreneurs and some 1,000 tech career seekers; the current portfolio of companies has collectively raised nearly $10 million in capital combined. Prior to Sixty8, Kelli supported early-stage tech startups as a program manager for Techstars and director of people, culture, and brand for Givelify.
Firm strategy
Sixty8 is industry agnostic; instead, it will invest in tech, tech-enabled, and direct-to-consumer startups with a clear focus on diverse, community-led companies. The fund will leverage its relationship with the Midwest venture ecosystem through Allos and the proprietary deal flow from the Be Nimble Foundation. Sixty8 looks to come in as the first institutional round for companies that typically have less than $500,000 of recurring revenue; initial check sizes will range from $100,000 to $500,000. Anticipated focus areas are software, e-commerce, consumer packaged goods, advanced manufacturing, media, and digital marketplaces. The fund also has a focused mandate of investing in companies in Indiana and surrounding states, with expanded reach to the Midwest more broadly.
Why we invested
When we first met Kelli, we were impressed by her passion and commitment to putting capital into diverse entrepreneurs, a mission that resonated with us. We see her vision: There exists an excellent opportunity to be an early mover in underserved markets that have had sustained growth over the years. Kelli has a clear dedication to finding and backing talented Midwestern entrepreneurs and the experience, network, and resources to succeed. She brings great enthusiasm to addressing the gaps in venture for otherwise-undercapitalized founders, and we’re excited to be a partner to help be the first institutional check for diverse entrepreneurs in the Midwest.