Ben Stokes is the Founding Partner of Chasing Rainbows, an early-stage investment fund which invests in LGBTQ+ founded companies ensures greater access to capital for underrepresented founders. He is an emerging fund manager with both startup and corporate experience, Ben has been a driving force in creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ founders to receive early funding. In 2023, Ben was named 40 under 40 Rising Stars of Venture by the Venture Capital Journal, and named 40 under 40 LGBTQ+ Pride Leaders by Business Equality Magazine. In 2022, he was named in the Top 100 Investors by Alumni Spotlight and was recognized by the NVCA, as one of the Top LGBTQ+ Investors Making an Impact. In addition to this, in 2021, Ben spoke at the UN General Assembly on Living with Purpose, has been a guest speaker for the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Centre, British Government and gave the Graduation Address for his Alma Alter after being awarded Young Alumni of the Year 2021 for the University of Tasmania. On top of this, Ben sits on a number of NFP boards, including co-chairing StartOut’s Investor Board. Prior to founding Chasing Rainbows, Ben previously founded SocialTable, a social platform used on every continent. Using his own experience as an LGBTQ+ founder of color, he has been an active angel investor in companies led by underrepresented founders and has fostered a number through to their exit or next investment phase, which laid the foundation for Chasing Rainbows’ thesis. Ben mentors through a number of organizations, including Australian Landing Pad in San Francisco, Techstars in Washington DC, Out in Tech in New York, River City Labs in Brisbane, Sunramp at the Sunshine Coast University (to name a few), assisting founders to navigate the road to entrepreneurial success - with a particular interest in those who want to take their start-ups and scale-ups global. Ben is a Material Change Institute Fellow, and has his Executive MBA. He also attended UC Berkeley’s Venture Capital Program, and was selected to be part of both the StartOut Growth Lab, a start-up incubator located in San Francisco, and RBL1, based in Austin. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur he worked at Oracle and Salesforce. Ben grew up on a farm on the North-West Coast of Tasmania after being adopted from an orphanage in Sri Lanka by a loving Tasmanian family. His mission is to help create a world that's built on radical inclusivity where diversity of knowledge and experience is celebrated, a cornerstone for the vision of his fund Chasing Rainbows.