James Norman Is Closing the Series A Gap for Black Founders

Let me tell you about James Norman.

Two days — that’s how long he and his co-founder stayed up building their first fund pitch, and that intensity became the blueprint for a firm now fighting to close the Series A funding gap.

The Work

Norman is co-founder and managing partner of Black Operator Ventures (Black Ops VC), the Oakland-based seed-stage venture capital firm he runs with Sean Green. The mission is specific: invest in technology companies led by Black founders and close the Series A gap that stalls strong seed-stage companies before they can scale. The firm closed a $20 million inaugural fund in 2021 and has backed 15 tech startups, including EdVisorly, Cyphr and ChurchSpace.

He’s a three-time founder who still operates. Norman is also CEO of Pilotly, an AI-powered market research platform for media and entertainment used by companies including Amazon and Netflix to gather audience feedback on video content. And he’s a partner at Transparent Collective, the accelerator he founded in 2016 to bring underrepresented founders to the Bay Area for intensive training, mentorship and investor access.

Under Norman and Green, Black Ops VC has sharpened its thesis around AI-native companies — the firm says its next fund, Fund II, is “fully aligned with an AI-native investment strategy.”

The Roots

Norman is a Michigan native. As a teenager he and a friend founded MJH Sound, one of the first e-commerce sites for home and audio — a venture that pulled him into building custom cars in his hometown, at the heart of the auto industry. He moved to Southern California and built cars for film clients, including the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, then founded Ubi Videos, a streaming video aggregator that drew an IP acquisition offer.

He moved to the Bay Area and worked on a model for à la carte TV before turning the insight into Transparent Collective — the nonprofit accelerator that has worked with more than 40 startups. He’s a University of Michigan alumnus, and his alma mater later became a limited partner in Black Ops VC.

Why You Should Know Him

Because Norman treats the Series A gap as an access problem, not a talent problem — and he has the receipts to back it. He’s both an operator building AI-native companies and an investor finding Black founders the market keeps missing. That combination is rare, and it’s exactly what’s needed to move capital to the founders who’ve earned it. That’s why James Norman belongs on your radar.

Quick facts

• Role: Co-founder & Managing Partner, Black Operator Ventures (Oakland, CA)
• Firm: $20M inaugural fund (2021); 15 startups backed, including EdVisorly, Cyphr and ChurchSpace
• Also: CEO, Pilotly (AI market research for media; clients include Amazon and Netflix)
• Also: Partner, Transparent Collective accelerator (founded 2016)
• Education: University of Michigan
• Fund II: in progress, AI-native strategy

📸 Photo: Courtesy of Black Operator Ventures / Pulse 2.0.

*Black Future Year celebrates Black excellence all year long.*