The Consumer Technology Association has announced it is committing $10 million to venture capital firms that focus solely on minority women and diverse founders.
Last year, women brought in just 2.2 percent of the available venture capital funding in the U.S. and black women received just .0006 percent of that. According to PitchBook, when deals are finally cut, women receive on average $5 million, while their male counterparts get nearly $12 million.
CTA’s investment works to offset these statistics and give founders a chance at the money many investors are leaving on the table.
“It is imperative that we take full advantage of the diverse talent the U.S. has to offer to compete and the most successful and innovative companies will be those led by diverse teams,” said Tiffany Moore, CTA’s Senior Vice President of Political Industry Affairs. “It’s as critical that we don’t miss out on the innovation the next unicorn startup has to offer because they lacked investment.”
Interested VC firms can apply for funding here. The deadline is February 22.
