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
Miami’s only Black Tech Hub, The Source, has announced the launch of a regional startup competition that will set the winner on track to win a $1 million investment. The tech center was founded by music executive Ted Lucas and venture capitalist Hilmon Sorey, an organization committed to supporting underserved founders as they expand their startups. The Source focuses on local entrepreneurs who plan to keep their business in South Florida as a means of maintaining talent in the area and building a long-term tech ecosystem, as stated by Miami
Black women who work in startups are more likely to become founders later on, a new study has revealed, highlighting a potential key path to increasing their representation in the startup world. Black women are already leading the way in entrepreneurship. A LendingTree study found that Black-owned businesses are more likely to be led by women, and 55.2% generate between $100,000 and $999,999 in annual revenue, slightly higher than the 54.7% for all Black-owned businesses. Although the number of Black-female founders in the US is increasing, they still make up
Slutty Vegan founder and CEO Pinky Cole Hayes has appointed Lauren Maillian as president of the plant-based burger chain; Maillian joined the company on June 4, according to Black Enterprise. With over 20 years of experience in the tech, food, and beverage sectors, Maillian sees this appointment as one of alignment: “This is also very personal for me… very synergistic with the life that I lead and allowing me to show up as Lauren Maillian wholly and fully in every part of my personal and professional life.” Cole shared that this will be the first
Black Americans score above the US mean on entrepreneurial traits, meaning they are more likely to be associated with business ownership success, according to Brookings research. However, entrepreneurial success remains challenging for Black business owners to achieve due to the numerous structural barriers they encounter, such as difficulties with business lending and limited economic support. The Black Business Parity Dashboard A new tool, the Black Business Parity Dashboard, reveals the economic benefits that could result from closing the Black business ownership gap in US cities. Developed by the Center for Community Uplift, the
Stackwell and the Michigan Black Business Alliance (MBBA) released a report that examined how access to investment, education, and behavioral tools affects the financial outcomes of Black small business owners. The new report, titled “Building Personal Wealth: Empowering Black Small Business Owners Through Investing,” was published by the Financial Health Network. The report builds on findings from the 2024 Small Business Investing Program (SBIP), where eligible MBBA members received funded investment accounts through the Stackwell investing platform, along with educational resources. How barriers block wealth for Black entrepreneurs Small Black-business owners face significant
Construction tech startup Litehaus has raised €1.46 million ($1.58 million) in a pre-seed round co-led by Cornerstone VC and Explorer Fund. Claster Group and angel investor Pascal Levy also participated in the pre-seed round. The fund will help simplify the home-building process in Europe. Husband-and-wife duo Thibault and Simi Launay set out to buy a house in Portugal nearly five years ago. However, they faced a 14-month delay, 20% budget overruns, and mismanagement involving over 10 subcontractors. “We realized if we’re struggling with this, so are millions of others,” Thibault told
