WSJ News Exclusive | Firm Run by Adviser to Obamas Gets Backing From BDT

The funding, which provides BDT a nonvoting minority stake in Pendulum, follows an analogous infusion from

Bank of America Corp.

final yr, which hasn’t beforehand been reported. It couldn’t be discovered how a lot both agency invested.

BDT makes a speciality of advising and investing in family- and founder-led companies. Its founder,

Byron Trott,

previously of

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,

is named the favourite banker of famed investor

Warren Buffett.

Mr. Robinson, finest identified for advising Mr. Obama and his spouse

Michelle

on their private funds, met Mr. Trott at Goldman, the place they labored collectively for a lot of years. In 2009, he left the financial institution to assist Mr. Trott construct BDT.

The Robinsons ultimately determined there needs to be an establishment like BDT that caters to Black founders and others of shade. They launched Los Angeles-based Pendulum in 2019.

Mr. Robinson serves as chief govt, whereas Mrs. Robinson, a former chemist, civic chief and entrepreneur, is chief working officer.

“Being an entrepreneur of color these days can be a lonely journey,” Mr. Robinson mentioned. “Folks are excited to be part of a platform that feels like it was built for them.”

He mentioned companies based by folks of shade fail with larger frequency, typically due to an absence of capital. Even these with entry to capital typically get recommendation that’s transactional moderately than strategic.

“These are high-quality businesses and skilled entrepreneurs that just don’t get the same kind of support,” mentioned Mr. Trott, who was already personally invested in Pendulum’s fund.

The Robinsons mentioned Pendulum seeks to spend money on firms that attraction to customers who’re motivated by their values.

The agency’s funding arm, which has raised a $200 million car, has to this point backed 12 completely different companies. Among them are Altro Inc., an app that helps customers construct their credit score profiles by monitoring their spending; fast-casual restaurant platform FieldTrip and cell electric-vehicle-charging community SparkCharge.

In addition to the Obamas, Pendulum’s advisory enterprise counts NBA level guard Chris Paul and

Jerry Lorenzo,

founding father of luxury-streetwear model Fear of God, amongst its shoppers.