Even with diversity and inclusion efforts from corporations in recent months, there is still a need for more representation and investment in Black businesses.
According to Sifted, Diversity VC and RateMyInvestor conducted a study that found less than 1 percent of VC is invested in Black-owned businesses in the U.S., and things are no better in the U.K.
However, Black-owned London-based venture capital firm, Impact X Capital Partners, is raising £100 million ($131 million) to invest in Black entrepreneurs in the entertainment, media, tech, health, and digital space reports Shoppe Black.
Founding member, Principal & CTO Ezechi Britton told Shoppe Black that it’s time investors put their money where their mouth is.
“There is no doubt in our mind that Black founders need more support,” Britton said. “We’re massively over mentored and under funded. There are plenty of people willing to give their time, but not their money.”
Britton tells Shoppe Black he noticed the problem when he would give talks about his entrepreneurial journey and what it’s like to be an underrepresented founder and observed that most of the audience he spoke to did not look like him.
“That was the point I realized there needs to be a change,” he said. “There needs to be something I can get involved in to utilize my skills and my network. That is what led me [to joining the team].”
Britton says he’s noticed that Black founders do not have high rates of success when seeking funding because they pitch to venture capitalists too early or do not have the same connections as their non-Black counterparts.
“Impact X provides its entrepreneurs with access to industry experts and strategic resources, to ensure that portfolio companies receive critical input to realize their visions and generate long-term investor value, ” according to their website.
For more information, visit their website.
Editorial Note: This piece has been updated since it was originally published.
