How Africa News
Black women are more likely than white women to start a business. According to a survey conducted by Babson College professors and quoted by Fortune, 17% of Black women are starting or leading a new business, compared to 10% of white women and 15% of white males.
The study also discovered that 61% of Black female entrepreneurs self-fund their businesses. “If 61% of Black women begin with their own funding, and Black women in particular begin with more debt and less equity, they begin with a smaller amount,” the study discovered.
This means that Black women have fewer access to private or venture capital to start or run enterprises. However, in recent years, some organizations have developed funding schemes to provide awards to Black female entrepreneurs. The following are ten such organizations.
The SoGal Black Founder Startup Grant
The SoGal Foundation has partnered with Winky Lux, bluemercury, twelveNYC, Twilio, Walmart.org’s Center for Racial Equity, and other sponsors to award several $10,000 and $5,000 cash grants to Black women and nonbinary entrepreneurs, its website says.
Furthermore, awardees will receive technical assistance in navigating the fundraising environment, allowing them to have a more equitable chance of scaling the next billion-dollar idea, it adds. Furthermore, awardees will have unlimited access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams for the rest of their lives.
Capital One Business Grant Program
Capital One seeks to support growth in underserved communities and advance socioeconomic mobility through the Capital One Impact Initiative. It launched a program to support Black entrepreneurs in 2022, in collaboration with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), by awarding $10,000 grants to businesses that suffered during the pandemic. Beneficiaries are supported on a rolling basis.
Coalition to Back Black Businesses
The Coalition to Back Black Businesses is a multi-year initiative to support Black small businesses. The coalition works with American Express, Cummins, Optimum, Shopify, Stanley Black and Decker, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Business League, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., Walker’s Legacy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Over the next four years, the coalition will invest more than $14 million in grants, training, and resources to help Black-owned small businesses in low-income neighborhoods that have long struggled with economic growth. From 2020 to 2023, the coalition will award $5,000 grants to applicants each fall.
The National Black MBA Association’s Scale-up Pitch Challenge
Launched in 2017, the National Black MBA Association’s Scale-up Pitch Challenge helps startups connect with early-stage investors and venture capitalists. Successful applicants pitch their business ideas to the judges, then three finalists compete live in Atlanta for the chance to win the $50,000 grand prize.
The Amber Grant
Amber Grant works with WomensNet to help women achieve their business goals. WomensNet established the Amber Wigdahl Memorial Grant in 1998 to honor the memory of Amber Wigdahl, a 19-year-old who died before achieving her entrepreneurial goals. “Today, each month, we award two $10,000 Amber Grants.” In addition, two of our 24 monthly winners will receive a $25,000 Year-End Amber Grant.” WomensNet says on its website. Grant winners are announced by the 23rd of each month. WomensNet also offers free tips on how to get a grant.
The Power Forward Small Business Grant
The Power Forward Small Business Grant program was established to empower Black-owned small businesses across New England. Through a combined commitment of $1 million, Vistaprint and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation are teaming up with the NAACP to award transformative grants of $25,000 on a rolling basis.
Fedex Small Business Grant Contest
Since 2012, the Fedex Small Business Grant Contest has awarded over $1.5 million in cash and prizes to over 100 small businesses. So far, the contest has drawn more than 50,000 entrants and this year alone, some 18,000 have applied.
The awards, which were founded by FedEx, do not necessarily focus on Black women business owners because it primarily caters to small business owners, but it is a good opportunity for Black women looking for grants.
Sage Invest In Progress Grant
Sage partnered with the BOSS Network, an online community of professional and entrepreneurial women, to launch the Invest in Progress Grant, where Black women founders will get annual grants of $10,000 each. Over the next three years, the program will award a total of $1.5 million.
The Annuity Freedom Bipoc Small Business Grant
Following the impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, and people of color entrepreneurs, the Annuity Freedom BIPOC Small Business Grant was created to support them. The grant is mainly in the form of technical support like free marketing support, free SEO evaluations, advice, and planning. Grantees are selected on a rolling basis.
The New Voices Fund
The New Voices Fund was launched in 2018 with a seed fund of $100 million by Richelieu Dennis, founder of SheaMoisture. The fund will provide monetary resources to both existing and aspiring entrepreneurs who identify as women of color. She is also pledging to give back $1 million in direct funding annually to underserved communities.
