In 2020, venture capitalists invested $148 billion into up-and-coming businesses, but Black entrepreneurs only received 3% of it! Celebrity and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams noticed this and launched Black Ambition (BA), a non-profit providing funding and mentorship to Black and Latin entrepreneurs.
In 2021, BA distributed $3.2 million between 34 companies, who then collectively earned $40 million in sales. The BA team estimates that if entrepreneurs of color were supported like white entrepreneurs are, “the United States could add 1.1M new businesses and 9M new jobs to the economy.”
Since we tend to hire our own, that would mean millions of jobs for Black Americans.
Williams also uses BA to highlight barriers Black people have historically faced to building generational wealth in America – enslavement, Jim Crow, and now, widespread legislation attempting to prevent children from even learning this history.
Williams believes erasing these teachings could lead to future non-Black entrepreneurs and funders “not really understanding why they have the instincts and the inclinations to leave us out of business opportunities.”
Roughly 2.2% of American businesses are Black-owned. But from now until May 8th, 2022, BA is accepting applications from early-stage businesses, offering funding up to $1 million!
Like Williams, we must be intentional about what we invest in, always asking, “how does this not only make money, but support Black people?”