Rodney Sampson

Rodney Sampson is the SSBCI 2.0 Fund of Funds Manager at the North Carolina Rural Center, a position he has held since January 2023. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing investments aimed at supporting early-stage, high-growth small businesses in North Carolina, particularly those led by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Under his management, the NC Rural Center has launched initiatives like NCInvest, which recently allocated $32 million to ten venture capital funds to enhance access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs.123

In addition to his role at the NC Rural Center, Sampson is a co-founder and Vice Chairman at Piksel Technology Corporation, Executive Chairman & CEO of OHUB, and a General Partner at the 100 Black Angels + Allies Fund. He also serves as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution and a Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sampson is recognized for his commitment to promoting racial equity in technology and venture capital, having authored the book Kingonomics, which focuses on economic empowerment for marginalized communities.145

Sampson's work emphasizes creating equitable opportunities within the startup ecosystem, aiming to address the historical funding disparities faced by entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds. His leadership in the SSBCI 2.0 initiative is seen as a transformative step towards enhancing the economic landscape for small businesses in North Carolina.345