Galileo Plans LGBT Capital Fund

Citing the growing influence of gay and lesbian consumers, Galileo Capital Management announced Tuesday that it would set up LGBT Capital, a corporate advisory and investment management unit believed to be the first to deal exclusively with the LGBT market.

LGBT Capital, which also is planning to start a fund to invest in companies providing services and products to gay people worldwide, represents an advance for the conservative investment banking world, according to The New York Times' DealBook.
The fund is the result of meetings with gay business owners and managers who expressed their specific frustrations and needs, according to DealBook.

"LGBT Capital said it has met with a significant number of gay business owners and managers and found that many of their capital plans fell apart because of a lack of professional business development advice available and the shortage of advice on how to access external investors," reported DealBook. "They believe this is the case partly because many L.G.B.T.-oriented companies were originally established with a degree of secrecy and without the financial support otherwise available to start-up companies."