Garry Cooper is the CEO of Rheaply, a Series-A Climate Tech company in Chicago, and one of six GPs at Longjump VC, a first-check, founder-led fund investing in the next generation of Chicagoland founders. Garry shares his fundraising journey for Rheaply and for Longjump, and ideation process behind the two ventures. LongJump VC had been an idea for Garry and his network of Chicago founders, until George Floyd’s death last summer solidified the formation of the fund. The GPs successfully raised over $4 million by the time the fund was announced in March 2021.
As a Black founder, Garry constantly asks himself, “What more can I do for Black, brown and underserved communities?” He draws parallels between Rheaply’s mission of advancing the Circular Economy and LongJump’s mission of giving voice to underfunded and unconnected founders. Garry shares his goals for the next ten years, and how he strives to broaden the economy to let more people in.
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by Derek Doeing 
