Arlan Hamilton is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in highpotential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised nearly $12 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders.

In 2018, Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio, which launched four accelerator programs, in Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, and London, UK. In October 2018, Arlan was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine as the first Black woman noncelebrity to do so. Arlan and Backstage were the subjects of Season 7 of the popular podcast StartUp from Gimlet Media. Arlan is the author of “It’s About Damn Time” and host of the weekly podcast, “Your First Million”.

In 2019, Arlan and her mother, Mrs. Earline Butler-Sims, announced their new scholarship program, which kicked off with Oxford University's first-ever undergraduate scholarship for a Black student, as well as a full-ride scholarship for a Psychology student at Mrs. Sims' alma mater, HBCU Dillard University.