Impact Ventures has landed what its Founder and CEO Benjamin Vann says is its “largest gift to date.”
The Dallas-based nonprofit startup accelerator received a three-year grant totaling $450,000 from the Communities Foundation of Texas’ W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund. And, in addition to using the funding to grow its own program, Impact Ventures is using it to help fund other entrepreneurs in the area.
“The recent pandemic shined an already bright light on the inequities that existed for minorities seeking to create wealth through entrepreneurship. Many businesses were not able to get access to government funding, had little to no relationships with their local banker, and had very little runway to help survive in times where sales may dwindle,” Impact Ventures wrote in a blog post. “This investment will create new opportunities to align capital with impact by removing some of the structural barriers that have excluded many communities for decades.”
Impact Ventures is launching the Dallas Inclusive Capital Fund, which it said will be focused on closing the racial and gender wealth gaps. The integrated capital fund aims to provide flexible loans and “patient equity” investments to underrepresented entrepreneurs. In an effort to remove structural barriers that prevent founders of color from having access to capital, Impact Ventures said the underwriting process will be based on character and trust practices.
Additional funding for the Dallas Inclusive Capital Fund comes from the $50,000 Pegasus Prize, an annual social impact-focused grant prize awarded by the Dallas Foundation that Impact Ventures won in December.
According to Vann, in there is a $47.5 million unmet demand for loan capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs in Dallas County.
The other part of the Communities Foundation funding will help Impact Ventures expand its early-stage accelerator program, which focuses on early-stage, high growth tech and CPG businesses. Its most recent cohort of 13 companies wrapped up at the beginning of the year.
The new announcement comes a few days after Impact Ventures announced a partnership with Dallas-based business consulting firm Jabian Consulting to help grow its 10-week small business-focused Local Entrepreneur Acceleration Program. As part of the deal, Jabian will provide financial awards for companies going through the program via its recently launched Project Amplify micro-grant program.
That news came around the same time Impact Ventures joined the recently created Resource cohort, a 12-month program focused on connecting and supporting entrepreneur support organizations launched in February by Village Capital and the Black Innovation Alliance. In addition to training, cohort members, which are all entrepreneur support organizations, will receive grant funding.
Impact Ventures also received a boost back in October, when it announced a partnership with Capital One and Paul Quinn College to help drive more inclusion and representation in the local tech and startup scene. As part of a $200 million initiative on the part of Capital One, the company is providing technical assistance, mentorship and access to capital services to Impact Ventures’ cohorts, in addition to sponsoring hackathons focused on addressing racial and societal issues.
“In order to truly level the playing field and close the wealth gap, we must work to remove the structural and systemic barriers that rid communities of color from a lifetime of poverty – both income and asset,” Vann said in a statement.
