Over the last decade, Boston has made itself known as an established hub for entrepreneurship. The tech and life sciences industries are thriving here. Scores of programs exist to boost founders who are drawn to the classic dream of taking an idea from the back of a napkin to a full-grown business.
We wanted to create a guide to programs in that genre that specifically target entrepreneurs and tech workers from historically underrepresented backgrounds, especially immigrants and people of color. Most of these are geared toward adults, but for college students, Rough Draft Ventures has a guide with diversity and inclusion resources across its network here.
Take a look through the resources we've compiled below. Did we miss something? Let me know via email.
By the way, we've published a wealth of guides to Boston-area startup accelerators, coding bootcamps, investors and more over the years, which anyone can access right here.
Black Tech Pipeline
Founded by Boston-area software engineer Pariss Chandler (Pariss Athena on Twitter), Black Tech Pipeline is a service-based platform bringing exposure, resources and opportunity to the Black tech community. Through a newsletter, website and the hashtag #BlackTechTwitter, Black Tech Pipeline aims to connect employers and partners to members of its pipeline—as long as they prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. Members can join on Slack and Discord as well.
Hack.Diversity
Launched in 2016 through partnerships with the New England Venture Capital Association, Year Up, the Private Industry Council and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Hack.Diversity aims to boost Black and Latinx talent in Boston's tech ecosystem. The program recruits Black and Latinx students pursuing careers in software engineering, data analytics, information technology and UX/UI design. After going through a program that includes career and interview coaching, those students—Hack.Diversity fellows—are placed into internships with local tech companies. HubSpot and Wayfair are among the companies that have tapped Hack.Diversity fellows as summer interns.
Resilient Coders
Resilient Coders is a highly competitive, free, nonprofit coding bootcamp that trains people of color for high-growth careers as software engineers. Each bootcamp takes a small cohort of young people of color without college degrees and trains them in JavaScript development. The only way to apply to a Resilient Coders bootcamp is to participate in one of the organization's hackathons. There are two hackathons before each bootcamp, each one about seven hours long, which are designed to allow staff, alumni and prospective students to get to know each other. After the bootcamp, Resilient Coders works to connect its students with full-time jobs.
Black Startup Collective
Although it's just getting off the ground, Black Startup Collective promises to be a robust public directory of Black-owned startups, which entrepreneurs can use to find each other—and which investors and consumers can use to figure out where to spend their money. Black entrepreneurs can fill out a Typeform about themselves and their ventures to be added to the directory.
Smarter in the City
Smarter in the City runs an accelerator in Roxbury's Nubian Square to provide support and resources for local minority-run ventures. From a pool of applicants, finalists are selected and invited to pitch their ideas before a welcoming committee. Five to seven startups are ultimately selected to join each five-month accelerator cohort. Those teams have access to resources including a $4,000 zero-equity stipend, professional mentorship, coworking space and technical assistance. The program has been running since 2014 and has so far helped launch 20 startups led by underrepresented entrepreneurs.
EforAll
EforAll—short for Entrepreneurship For All—is a nonprofit that partners with communities to help under-resourced individuals successfully start and grow a business through intensive business training, mentorship and an extended professional support network. EforAll runs programs including accelerators and pitch contests in Roxbury, Lynn, Lowell and elsewhere in Massachusetts. EforAll has launched more than 500 startups since 2013.
G|Code
G|Code is a program designed to give young women of color between 18 and 25 a first exposure to coding in a supportive, inclusive and safe environment. G|Code offers two programs, one 10 weeks long and the other two years long. The 10-week program offers technical training, workshops and tours of Boston tech companies. In the two-year program, participants get access to technical and specialty training, as well as a six-month internship. Throughout the program, G|Code participants live in the G|Code House, a co-living space in Roxbury.
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
Based in Nubian Square, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) is a nonprofit strategy and research organization that exists to support public- and private-sector decision makers with analysis and programs that lead to urban investment, jobs and growth. ICIC connects entrepreneurs nationwide with programs including Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses, the Inner City 100 (IC100) Award and Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC), a tuition-free leadership training program.
BUILD Boston
BUILD aims to use entrepreneurship as an avenue to advance the potential of youth from under-resourced communities. BUILD mentors walk students at participating high schools through all the steps of launching a business, from developing a plan to pitching to a venture capitalist—and securing seed funding. It's taught as an in-school elective in 9th through 12th grade.
EllisX
EllisX is behind a "visibility-as-a-service" platform designed to help early-stage startups connect with media and event organizers. Although it is open to all entrepreneurs, EllisX stemmed out of the founders' desire to increase visibility for immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S. As EllisX sees it, that lack of visibility is a symptom of a larger problem: The primary reasons founders find it difficult to get exposure is due to limited funding and access. EllisX has begun giving away three visibility opportunities to any startup with a founder of African descent so they can share their story with a broader audience and fast-track their companies.
AccelHub
AccelHub is focused on connecting international and Boston-based entrepreneurs. Founded by Oliver Sanchez, who previously led the immigrant-focused incubator PLUG, AccelHub works with partner organizations like MassChallenge to create "innovation bridges" between emerging markets and established entrepreneurial ecosystems like Boston. It kicked off last fall with an accelerator that boasted programming, pitch nights and information sessions for Mexican startup founders.
Technology Underwriting Greater Good (TUGG)
TUGG defines itself as the community engagement platform that connects New England tech entrepreneurs with the riskiest social enterprises serving local under-resourced youth. Its mission is to galvanize entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to support local nonprofits, including tech-focused ones like BUILD Boston and Resilient Coders. Its flagship event is "Tech Gives Back," a multi-day volunteer event where members of the Boston tech community give their time to nonprofits in TUGG's network.
