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BIPOC entrepreneurs
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There is no secret about some of the historical challenges that communities of color have faced in the United States. People of color have documented accounts of the hurdles that can impede success, particularly around wealth and ownership. However, none of that stopped the thousands of business owners and innovators from being successful despite the challenges. To copy the words of Atlanta-based HBCU Clark Atlanta University , people of color continue to “find a way or make one.” Regardless of the grit and hustle it sometimes takes to overcome policies and systems designed to hinder success, business owners of color persist. Some of this persistence comes from the assistance of individuals and organizations that recognize the struggle and are willing to be more than allies. They are looking to be accomplices.
Tripping and falling are common occurrences, and most people’s first line of defense is grabbing a bandage to cover the bruise or scar. Using a bandage isn’t the issue for most Black and Brown people. The problem lies in the “nude” tone not matching their skin tone. In response, Rashid Mahdi and Intisar Bashir created a solution to solve this color-matching problem. In 2018, the husband and wife entrepreneurs launched Browndages, a company that sells a variety of skin-toned bandages. On a recent episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” the couple admitted that their brand didn’t have a lot of “buzz.” However, all of that changed in the summer of 2020 when social uprisings were happening all over the nation. There was an uptick in Black-owned business support and advocacy during that time, and Browndages reaped the rewards. During that summer, the couple saw revenue go up to around $130,000 in just under a week’s time. Fast forward and the couple has stood on national television explaining to...
Many of the successful trailblazers from past generations, up until now, are praised for creating their path to success. Although such stories are inspiring to the masses, the likelihood for most aspiring career professionals to reach a similar fate without external guidance isn’t the norm, and t ech investor and entrepreneur Cortney Woodruff and music executive veteran Cortez Bryant are aware of that. To provide that external guidance and help the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community gain access to mentorship to jumpstart their careers, they created Assemble, an online educational platform with courses from Black and brown experts and innovators. With Woodruff as Assemble’s CEO and Cortez alongside him as its president, they aim to lead as the first platform to purposely highlight successful BIPOC professionals in their respective fields and showcase their journeys to a wide audience online. “I just had this idea to do something that was a bit bigger than just...
What oftentimes stands between an entrepreneur’s innovative idea and the act of them starting a business is the lack of funding — especially for Black and brown communities. Seed At The Table is an equity crowdfunding platform that’s working to bridge such funding gaps while empowering Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs. As previously reported by AfroTech, the initiative not only helps provide Black and brown entrepreneurs with access to capital, but also allows non-accredited investors to invest in businesses that are founded by those who look like them. “Prior to the pandemic, BIPOC-owned businesses were already the least likely to receive access to capital,” Seed At The Table co-founder Suzen Baraka told AfroTech. “When they went out for funding, they were either denied or they received less than what they needed in order to start up. I think that’s why Seed At The Table is necessary because we are a team of subject matter experts in our respective...
Consumer tech giant Best Buy just found a huge way to pledge its support toward Black and brown entrepreneurs in the tech industry. According to a press release, Brown Venture Group — a venture capital (VC) firm created to fund Black, Latinx and Indigenous tech entrepreneurs — announced that Best Buy has committed up to $10 million to its $50 million inaugural fund, considered one of the largest in the country dedicated to this group of techpreneurs. This commitment from Best Buy builds on its recent pledge to spend at least $1.2 billion with diverse businesses by 2025 with a focus on the tech industry. “We’re committed to taking meaningful action to address the challenges faced by BIPOC entrepreneurs,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said in a statement. “Through partnerships like this, we believe we can begin to do this by helping to build a stronger, more vibrant community of diverse innovators in the tech industry, some of whom we hope will become partners of Best Buy in the future.”...
Canadian actor-sibling duo Stephan James and Shamier Anderson recently launched their own organization to amplify opportunities for Black talent in their home country. Now they’ve co-launched an impressive initiative on behalf of Canada’s BIPOC entrepreneurs. According to a press release shared with AfroTech, Anderson and James, alongside their youngest brother Sheldon James, have all banded together to co-found the Bay Mills Investment Group — Canada’s first-ever, Black-owned venture capital firm that’s dedicated to supporting BIPOC entrepreneurs based in Canada. “As a serial entrepreneur and a Black Canadian, I’ve seen first-hand the stark disparities in adequate support for minority business owners not unlike myself,” co-founder and CEO Sheldon James shared in a statement. “This glaring gap has driven me to partner with my brothers to form this fund.” Alongside the VC firm, the trio of brothers have also launched The Bay Mills Diversity Fund, which will support and mentor young...