Endeavor Miami is recruiting Black entrepreneurs for an accelerator focused on helping founders jumpstart their businesses.
The organization opened applications for the next cohort of EndeavorLab, a two-month program designed to support early-stage companies. The program, presented in partnership with Dell for Startups, is open to Black-led businesses based in Florida that generate at least $50,000 in annual revenue. Applicants from any industry can apply, as long as they are developing a tech-enabled venture.
Claudia Duran, managing director of Endeavor Miami, noted that minority founders typically receive less support compared to their white counterparts.
"We believe that taking active steps in assisting them is essential to creating a diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem," she added.
One measure of that support is capital. While Florida startups received a record amount of venture funding in 2021, only about 4.5% of the $6.9 billion raised went to Black- and Hispanic-led businesses. Nationally, Black founders received about 1.4% of the total capital raised.
Endeavor Miami is the first U.S. affiliate of Endeavor, a global nonprofit that has advised and helped scale more than 1,000 businesses in 37 markets across the world. Endeavor Miami's programs have supported 84 companies since 2019, which collectively went on to employ more than 1,200 workers and generate $112 million in annual revenue.
Last year's EndeavorLab cohort for Black founders included the founders of local ventures like Kiddie Kredit, BeLoved Box and GovLia. Those startups collected created 22 new jobs in the Miami ecosystem, Endeavor reports.
The deadline to apply for EndeavorLab is July 3.
For more stories like this one, sign up for Miami Inno newsletters from the South Florida Business Journal and the American Inno network.
