Securing funding for a Black-owned business is an uphill battle, even when the company has reached massive success.
During an appearance on “Earn Your Leisure,” the co-founders of Florida-based Independent Medical Group (IMG) discussed some of the woes that they’ve faced with raising capital and looking to grow their health clinic business.
“The biggest problem that we have is that we can’t find enough sprinter vans to put on the streets and then the conversation about funding,” said CEO and Co-Founder Clifford Knights II. “About a black-owned business that’s doing the numbers that we’re doing at 20% and 25% profit margins and we’ve self-funded, all of this, ourselves.”
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Knights continued: “It’s crazy that the banks, the VC firms, the PE firms, they look at us more like if we were begging for money they would give it to us, charity wise, but in their eyes, we’re not investable…if that’s even a word. They’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s a cute business.’ A ‘cute business’ at $36 million and 20% percent profit margins…”
IMG Health Clinic
Independent Medical Group is a Black-owned healthcare company on a mission with its mobile IMG Health Clinic to fight stigmas associated with HIV, Hepatitis C, and STDs by offering fast and affordable testing and treatment.
As a fully self-owned company, IMG has managed to grow and scale its business to eight figures, all while continuing to identify market gaps and make healthcare both more accessible and convenient.
“It’s funny how they didn’t value our business when it comes to us trying to raise capital, but they come and try to buy us out every other week though,” said co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Steve Vixamar. “You want to come take our business and reap the benefits from our community, but you don’t want to invest in us for us to put it back in the community.”
Vixamar continued: “They want to come buy us out of there, use our business, use our top line revenue, but I know they’re not going to provide the same services to our community that we’re trying to provide.”
IMG brings care to communities through a licensed medical team that includes a Medical Director and Chief Clinical Officer, as well as “experienced, compassionate medical professionals such as doctors, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, disease interventionists and case managers.”
In January 2023, according to a press release, IMG grew its offerings to include mental health care, which extends to individual counseling, psychotherapy, medication management, case management, plus more.
