Washington, D.C.-based Zeal Capital Partners, backers of startups such as the Black-led unicorn Esusu, has announced the closing of its $82 million second fund. With the fund, the Black-led venture capital firm has brought a new set of limited partners including Citi Impact Fund, MassMutual, Wells Fargo, M&T Bank, Zaffre Investments and Spelman College, as its assets under management rose to $186 million — doubling in five years.

Zeal Capital was founded by Nasir Qadree, a former Goldman Sachs and AT&T executive who has variously donned the roles of investment salesman Wall Street researcher and even an actor. It is one of the country’s leading Black-led and run venture capital firms. Zeal’s first $62.1 million fund was one of the largest to be raised by a solo general partner. Zeal Capital’s advisers include NEA co-founder Frank Bonsal and Wes Moore, former CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation.

Nearly 80% of Zeal’s Fund I backers, such as Capricorn Investment Group and Hampton University, returned for the second fund, Qadree told TechCrunch. Even though the funding environment was “undoubtedly challenging” because of macroeconomic uncertainty, LP rebalancing, and tighter allocation windows, Qadree said the headwinds “sharpened our strategy.”

Qadree, who earned his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Hampton University, began his career at Goldman Sachs and worked at State Street Corp. before heading to AT&T, where he ran the telecom giant’s $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund. He is a Kauffman Fellow Class 26, part of a global network of top-tier venture capitalists committed to accelerating innovation and shaping the future of the investing industry. He has pursued a quest to run 51 marathons — one each in all 50 states and his hometown of D.C. — to raise $1 million in college scholarships for first-generation college students.

“I love history, and in the context of the innovation economy, I have always been interested in how, where, and who started our most iconic companies,” he told Pen Howell in an interview published on Medium.

“When we think about the asset class of venture capital, and those who have reaped the benefits, it has frustrated me that people of color and women have historically been left out. Not left out for the sake of being left out, but missing opportunity to create generational wealth,” he said. “For these reasons and more, my investment career has a laser focus on democratizing access to capital and resources, particularly for founders of color.”

Zeal Fund II plans invest in about 25 early-stage companies over a four-year investment period. It also will reserve half the fund for follow-on investments. According to TechCrunch, the second fund has already made at least five investments, including the maternal health platform Seven Starling and the fintech Debbie. Its past investments include Esusu, one of the few Black-led technology companies valued at over $1 billion, Humanly, Stratyfy and ViuHealth.

“The systems-level challenges that have long felt insurmountable — including access to education, economic mobility, financial health, and healthcare — are now among the largest and most urgent market opportunities,” Qadree said in a press release announcing the closing of Zeal’s second fund. “As innovation accelerates with AI and broader technological shifts, the capital we continue to deploy is critical to scaling solutions that not only deliver outsized returns but also reimagine the very structures that shape our society.”

Qadree has served on Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Innovation Technology Inclusion Council and the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) Chapter of BLCK VC.

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