Programs That Help Black Founders Get The Money They Need To Launch Their Own Startups
Startup founders often turn to friends and family for their first bit of funding but for many Black founders, that’s not an option. The “friends and family” round is when people who personally know the founders of a company pitch in money, either as a loan or in exchange for a small ownership stake but for those who may not have many family members or members with little capital – they can’t even ask them.
According to the Federal Reserve, the median net worth of Black households in the US is $24,100, compared with a $188,000 median for white households.
But we’ve listed some programs you should look out for that could help you!
Digitalundivided Do You Fellowship
Digitalundivided, a nonprofit that supports Black and Latina women in building businesses, debuted the Do You Fellowship earlier this year. The program is directed at revenue-generating startups and offers $5,000 in cash, along with mentorship, workshops, and executive coaching.
They previously invested in Mandy Bowman, the Founder and CEO of Official Black Wall Street. The TEDx speaker and Brooklyn native is a fierce advocate for ownership and economics within the black community. Official Black Wall Street is a digital platform and app using tech to connect Black owned businesses to consumers and resources for growth.
The investment firm also gave funding to Leslie Valdivia, the CEO and co-founder of Vive Cosmetics. Vive Cosmetics is an unapologetic beauty brand celebrating the beauty, culture, and diversity of the Latina/x/e community through inclusive and intentional beauty products inspired by Latin flavors.
Google for Startups Black Founders Fund
The $5 million fund launched by Google in 2020 provides selected Black-owned businesses up to $100,000 in cash grants, along with mentorship, credits for Google Cloud, and advertising grants from Google.org. The program has backed 126 startups, including 50 announced in September.
Coalition to Back Black Businesses
Founded by American Express and a group of other businesses and nonprofits last year, the Coalition to Back Black Businesses gives $5,000 grants to selected Black-owned companies. A few of the awardees that are deemed to have particularly strong growth prospects will receive follow-up grants of $25,000.
From 2020 through 2023, it will distribute $5,000 grants to applicants each fall, followed by mentorship and training, and select few will receive $25,000 enhancement grants the following summer. They hope these grants can provide some assistance to the Black business community to emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.
SoGal Foundation Black Founder Startup Grant
The sister organization of SoGal Ventures teamed up with sponsors such as Twilio and Winky Lux to offer $5,000 and $10,000 rolling grants to Black women and non-binary entrepreneurs who intend to raise venture funding. Last year, it awarded grants to 29 businesses.
Hello Alice Black-Owned Business Resource Center
Hello Alice, a website devoted to small-business resources, partnered with the NAACP to launch a section focused on grants for Black-owned businesses. The site features a rolling list of grants and hosts an online community of Black entrepreneurs.
