BLACK
WEALTH
Eliminating Systemic Barriers To Generate Black Wealth
Supporting Black Entrepreneurs, Incubators, and Accelerators
Empower Us Agency
Goal: Maximize the Number of Black Entrepreneurs Connected to Social & Investment Capital Resources
Empower Us Agency serves as an industry linkage to support up and coming Black entrepreneurs connect with social and financial investment opportunities that maximize their capital gains. We are committed to creating a cultural shift in the industry to promote positivity and expansion of Black owned businesses, and more importantly, cultivate generational wealth.
Goal: Increase the Number of Incubators and Accelerators’ Access to Capital Investment to Support and Fund Black Entrepreneurship
For incubators and accelerators, we provide a variety of consultative services including communication and investing strategy support to meet their investment goals, to helping them increase their recruitment efforts by sourcing entrepreneurial talent.
Funding Barriers
Lack of Funds
Limited to no funding or investments in Black businesses in general.
Lack of Financial Investment
Minimal knowledge by Black entrepreneurs about ‘how’ to connect and access financial investors including Angel Investors and Venture Capital firms.
No Network or Industry Relationships
Lack of social capital or knowledge of industry, community & entrepreneurial networks.
No Product Design or Company Feedback/Pitch Deck Advice
Lack of access to feedback on product/startup design and/or pitch efforts.
No Diversity in VC's
Lack of diversity among industry leaders creates barriers to financial capital for Black businesses.
The Statistics Don't Lie: Lack Of Investment In Black-Owned Businesses, Startups, and Limited Black Investors Creates Barriers
From 2009 to 2017, startups have raised nearly half a trillion dollars of venture capital. Only .0006% of that went to Black women and less than 1% went to Black people overall.
According to ProjectDiane, only 34 Black women were able to raise more than $1 million in funding for their startups in 2017. The average female founder of any race was able to raise $5 million – both stats lag far behind those of male founders who raised an average of $12 million per round.
Investment Industry Ethnic Makeup
How can there be progress and expansion of Black businesses if funders don’t look like us?
– 79.2% of startup executives are White, making them 25% overrepresented based on the number of working-age people in the U.S.
– 15.6% are Asian, making them 160% overrepresented
– 2.6% are Latinx, 85% underrepresented
– 2.1% are Black, 82% underrepresented
Startup / Entrepreneurial Industry Ethnic Makeup
