Serial entrepreneur, growth leader, and merger lawyer, Luke Cooper is Partner at San Francisco- based Preface Ventures, and Founder and CEO of Latimer – a $50MM venture fund with the mission of helping underrepresented founders reach outcomes. In 2021, Luke founded Latimer with the aim to elevate the experience of Black tech entrepreneurs, provide training curriculum and advisory services to BIPOC founders, and facilitate strategic connections between investors, Fortune 1000 acquirers, and high growth companies. Luke sold his previous venture, Fixt, to Assurant for more than 11x revenue. He grew revenue >400% year-over-year, raised over $6MM in Series A funding, and delivered an Enterprise SaaS product used by millions of end users. Luke served as VP, Global Growth, Alternative Service Delivery at Assurant following the transition. He is only the 2nd Black tech entrepreneur to see a company through to a successful exit in Baltimore.
With more than 20 years’ experience in leadership, strategic planning, and growth execution, Luke has a proven track record of growing sales and margin expansion while leading operational improvements to drive productivity and reduce costs. Luke has deep experience in technology operations, product development, go-to-market strategies, sales growth, talent management, and business transformations and M&A. He is passionate about building a diverse & inclusive culture.
Recognized as one of Baltimore’s “40 Under 40” Business Leaders and Entrepreneur of The Year by Ernst & Young, Luke Cooper is a trusted advisor to investors, business leaders, start-up founders, academia, and government leaders. Luke is recognized as a prominent voice advocating for more equitable participation of underrepresented communities in entrepreneurship.
Luke advises dozens of high growth companies, has served in a variety of non-profit and institutional board and trustee roles, and uses his platform to raise awareness of the unique challenges facing Black entrepreneurs. He has been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Ebony, Technically Baltimore, the Baltimore Business Journal, among others.
Luke currently serves as the President’s Distinguished Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He has previously been a member of the Maryland TEDCO Board of Directors, focused on providing startup funding, resources and connections to early- stage technology and life sciences companies. Luke holds a JD from Syracuse University, an MBA from Babson College, an M&A Certificate from the University of Chicago, and a BASc from Adelphi University.
