Black-owned social media network Fanbase has reached $12.7 million of its $17 million equity crowdfunding campaign. Founder Isaac Hayes III announced the milestone in an Instagram post, saying, “This raise is part of a larger mission to democratize ownership in the social media space.” Hayes is shifting away from traditional venture capital and turning to the community for investors, as the public now has the opportunity to own a stake in the platform. Fanbase’s equity crowdfunding campaign It reached $10 million of its equity crowdfunding campaign in 2024, which reportedly made Hayes
Rachel Allen, Ebony Cochran, and Jessie Hayes are creating a business school to close the racial wealth gap that hinders Black female entrepreneurs. Detroit has one of the highest concentrations of Black women–owned businesses in the US, but these women will often struggle to access the same financial capital as their white peers. Allen, Cochran, and Hayes are all successful Black entrepreneurs, but they don’t want to leave other Black people behind. “We’ve waited long enough to be invited to spaces that weren’t built with us in mind,” Cochran said.
Black-founded and centered membership club The Gathering Spot has announced its most ambitious plan to date: a 60,000-square-foot space in Atlanta called The Retreat. The new space features a rooftop pool, co-working spaces, and two restaurants, which will cost members $3,100 for an annual membership, according to The Inc. The Gathering Spot’s history The Gathering Spot appears to be on good, solid ground following its shaky merger with Greenwood. In 2022, it announced that Greenwood had acquired it. However, there were reported disputes between the two companies, including reports of a
The Black Founders Matter Fund is eyeing a second fund after fully deploying capital from its first. Launched in 2019, the early-stage fund invests in Black and other underrepresented founders building solutions in sectors such as health, wealth, and economic mobility. Managing Director Himalaya Rao-Potlapally says the experience has offered critical insights, not just for the fund’s strategy, but for how the venture ecosystem can better serve founders long term. Investing in Black startups Black Founders Matter began to gain traction in 2020, coinciding with the resurgence of the Black
Ami Colé, a Black-owned beauty line founded by Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye, will shut down in September. N’Diaye-Mbaye, who is one of the few Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture capital, wrote about her decision in The Cut, explaining that maintaining the business in this current market wasn’t sustainable. “We made operational decisions that felt necessary at the time — like scaling up production to meet potential demand — without truly knowing how the market would respond,” N’Diaye-Mbaye said. Ami Colé’s history The brand, which launched in 2021,
Recognize Partners, a New York-based investor in new digital companies, has closed its second fund, Recognize II, with over $1.7 billion in total commitments. The second fund was oversubscribed and closed less than five months after its launch. It included support from existing and new investors. The LP base includes leading global institutions such as endowments, foundations, pensions, insurers, family offices, outsourced CIOs, and fund-of-funds across the US., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Who are Recognize Partners? The New York-based investor supports innovative founders and management teams utilizing AI, software, and
Velveteen Ventures, a Midwest-based firm founded by Native American entrepreneur Betsy Fore, is one of the few US venture firms led by a Native American woman. As reported by TechCrunch, its institutionally backed first fund plans to invest $500,000 to $4 million in 15 to 20 seed and Series A startups focused on e-healthcare, climate, consumer, and community. Lack of Native American female founders The number of native American founders in the US is extremely low. TechCrunch attempted to find funding statistics for Native American founders, but the figures were
Summer camp is more than just fun and games for the young entrepreneurs attending the first annual Youth Business Camp. Hosted by the Better Black Business Project (B3P), a professional network for Black entrepreneurs,the three-day camp is designed to inspire and equip 14- to 19-year-olds with real-world business and financial literacy skills. Creating opportunities for Black business owners in Minnesota In Minnesota, African Americans make up 14% of the population but only 2% of businesses. B3 aims to close that gap. LeBrent Speed founded B3P to change that. “I grew
Investment firm Vessel has launched the Michigan Angel Collective (MAC), an early-stage angel syndicate, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. MAC will join the Ohio Angel Collective and Kentucky Angel Collective under the umbrella of the United States Angel Collective. Leading the new initiative is James Feagin, a Detroit-based social innovation leader and former head of economic mobility at the Gilbert Family Foundation. He is also the managing partner for Detroit-based Black Bottom Ventures. According to Vessel partner Wolf Starr, the Ohio Angel Collective was created to fill a funding gap for
Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Small and Minority Business Advocacy & Development (SMBA&D) is working with US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) to support small, minority, and women-owned businesses. The new partnership will provide these entrepreneurs with access to certification programs, contracting opportunities, and business development support. With 102,000 Black-owned businesses in Maryland, this program will significantly benefit Black-business owners in the area. SMBA&D collaborating with USBC The USBC supports a network of African American Chambers of Commerce and business organizations by providing them with resources and initiatives, and this collaboration will
