A16Z partner Kofi Ampadu, who led the firm’s Talent X Opportunities (TXO) fund and program, has left the firm, according to an email he sent to staff obtained by TechCrunch. This comes months after the firms halted TXO and laid off most of their staff.
“During my time at the firm, I was deeply grateful for the opportunity and trust to lead this work,” Ampadu wrote in an email, “closing my A16Z chapter,” sent Friday afternoon.
“Identifying and helping out-of-network entrepreneurs as they accelerated their ideas, raised capital, and grew into confident leaders was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career,” he wrote.
Ampadu led the program, which launched in 2020, for more than four years until its hiatus, taking over from the initial leader, Knight Jones. After that, Ampadu That seems to be what worked in the A16Z The latest accelerator, Speedron.
Ampadu’s departure probably signals the end of the TXO chapter. The fund and program focused on supporting minority founders by providing access to tech networks and investment capital through a donor-advised fund. While some founders spoke highly of the program, others criticized the controversial donor-advised structure. The program also launched a grant program in 2024 providing $50,000 to nonprofits that support diverse founders.
Its last cohort was in March 2025, and its indefinite hiatus came after many top tech names retrenched, cut, or scrapped prior public commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. We have reached out to A16Z and AMPADU for comment.
His full note below:
I moved to America three months before my 11th birthday. A month later, I started sixth grade at a school more than 5,000 miles away from home, my friends, and everything I knew. Recently, my mother reminded me that my school requires me to enroll as a second language student in English. My memory immediately. It came back to how confused I felt. Even at age 10, I knew it didn’t make sense that a kid from Ghana, an English-speaking country, was asked to learn a language he was already fluent in.
It was a system requirement, an empty assumption about what students from certain places could or couldn’t do. A similar systemic assumption is what we set out to challenge through the Talent X Opportunities initiative. Venture ecosystems often rely on proxies such as schools, networks, and prior credentials, which can obscure unusual founders who do not follow common paths. TXO invests in and supports these overlooked founders to close the gap between talent and opportunity.
During my time at the firm, I was deeply grateful for the opportunity and trust to lead this work. Identifying and supporting out-of-network entrepreneurs as they accelerated their ideas, raised capital, and grew into confident leaders was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career.
As I move on to my next chapter, I leave with pride in what we’ve built and gratitude for everyone who helped shape it. Thank you for the trust, support, and belief in what is possible. There’s more work to do and I’m excited to keep building.