Kim Folsom, CEO, Founders First

Kim Folsom is the founder and CEO of Founders First Capital Partners, Inc, (FFCP) a revenue-based investment and advisory support investment platform. FFCP is the largest private provider of growth funding for service-based businesses and the only black and women-led, revenue-based venture platform raising $150M in committed capital. FFCP is focused on partnering with employer-based, contract revenue generating small businesses ($500K to $10M), to provide them with flexible and non-dilutive funding, expertise and resources to achieve exponential growth in underserved communities. Kim is also the founder of Founders First CDC, a not-for-profit, community development organization and micro-small business accelerator with a mission to help underserved and underrepresented small business owners overcome the challenges they face due to by lack of access to capital and human capital business growth expertise to assist them with increasing business capacity resulting in higher revenue growth and providing more jobs. Since their founding in 2015 the firm has provided funding and/or growth support to approximately 650 companies.

As a social entrepreneur, Ms. Folsom is dedicated to leveraging the power of market forces and sound business practices to address disparities in revenue and job growth among businesses led by underrepresented founders. Prior to Founders First she has raised more than $30 million in institutional committed venture financing, created over 500 premium wage jobs and has founded or served as a key executive for six successful ventures, including showUhow (acquired by Sellpoints), DriveCam (now Lytx) and Seminarsource. Before devoting her energies to entrepreneurship, Ms. Folsom was a tech executive at National Dispatch Center, Luce Forward and Alltel Systematics and Great American First.

She earned her MBA degree from the University of Pepperdine and a bachelor’s degree in information systems a minor in economics from San Diego State University.