Partner Kofi Ampadu, who led a16z’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, has left the company, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch. This comes months after the company paused TxO and laid off most of its employees.
“I am deeply grateful for the trust and opportunity to lead this effort during my time with the company,” Ampadu wrote in an email sent Friday afternoon with the subject line “Concluding my a16z chapter.”
“Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and helping them hone their ideas, raise capital, and grow into confident leaders has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career,” he wrote.
Ampadu led the program from its launch in 2020, replacing initial leader Nait Jones for over four years until it was discontinued last November. Afterwards, Ampadu appears to have worked at a16z’s latest accelerator, Speedrun.
Ampadu’s departure probably signals the end of the TxO chapter. These funds and programs focus on supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs by providing them with access to technology networks and investment capital through donor-advised funds. While some founders praised the program, others criticized its controversial donor advice structure. The program has also launched a grant program that will provide $50,000 in 2024 to nonprofits that help diverse founders.
The last cohort was in March 2025, leading to an indefinite pause as many top tech companies restructure, scale back, or eliminate previous public commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ve reached out to a16z and Ampadu for comment.
His full note follows:
I moved to the United States three months before my 11th birthday. A month later, I started sixth grade at a school more than 5,000 miles away from home, friends, and everything familiar. Recently, my mom reminded me that my school requires me to enroll as an English as a Second Language student. My memory immediately returned to the confusion I felt. Even at age 10, I found it nonsensical that a child from Ghana, an English-speaking country, would be asked to learn a language he already spoke fluently.
These were both system requirements and sweeping assumptions about what students in a particular region could and could not do. The same type of systemic assumption is what we set out to challenge through the Talent x Opportunity Initiative. The venture ecosystem often relies on proxies like schools, networks, and prior credentials, which can obscure great founders who don’t follow the most common paths. TxO invests in and supports overlooked founders to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity.
During my time with the company, I have been deeply grateful for the opportunity and trust to lead this work. Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and helping them hone their ideas, raise capital, and grow into confident leaders has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career.
As we move into the next chapter, we’ll leave proud of what we’ve built and grateful to everyone who helped shape it. Thank you for your trust, cooperation and belief in what is possible. There is more work to be done and I am excited to keep doing it.
