A new venture capital firm out of Winston-Salem is ready to invest in North Carolina women- and minority-owned businesses (MWBE).
Equilibrium Impact Ventures (EQIV) will begin making investments, ranging from $50,000 to $75,000, this spring into MWBEs that are focused on social issues – such as health care, economic mobility, food security and climate resilience.
“The data is well cited about the discrepancies in funding for minority- and women-owned businesses, and it limits the opportunity to see great companies play a significant role in transforming our economy,” said Shante Williams, one of EQIV’s founding partners. “Here, we’re being intentional about deploying capital and putting transformational investments into founders’ hands.”
Historically, MWBEs have faced systemic barriers to securing venture capital, with less than 2% of VC funding allocated to startups with diverse leaders, according to a 2022 report from Diversity VC.
Following the 2020 death of George Floyd, Black founders saw historic gains in securing VC funding in 2021. However, in 2022 – as inflation and interest rates rose – Black businesses experienced a 45% drop in VC funding, a steeper rate than the overall 36% drop, according to Crunchbase.
And just this month, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Isabella Casillas Guzman, warned that lack of access to capital for minority-owned small businesses is costing the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars in economic output and several million jobs.
Kickstarting in 2021 with a $250,000 investment from the Winston-Salem Foundation, EQIV was founded by Williams, Adrian Smith and Kasem Rodriguez Mohsen. Together, the three have substantial experience in entrepreneurship and VC funding.
A Winston-Salem native, Smith previously served as the executive director of the Flywheel Foundation and as the accelerator director for the New Ventures Startup Accelerator. He is a co-owner of Village Fabric Shop and owner of El Burrito Bueno.
Williams is the CEO of Black Pearl Global Investments, a Charlotte-based, Black-owned asset management firm focused on reducing health disparities.
Mohsen, an advocate for equitable alternative investment, has led three companies through growth, fundraising and exit – Pro-ficiency, ADEPTCentral (now Inspired Intellect) and TheraSim (now MedSims).
“Investments into the startup ecosystem have the power to impact local communities and create a wider ripple through scale,” Smith said. “We don’t believe ventures have to choose between solid financial returns and positive social impact. We want to work alongside founders working to solve significant social issues and addressing some of the toughest systemic challenges.”
EQIV will allocate 100% of all venture investments to Black, brown and women founders with scalable businesses focused on social impact issues. The firm said that early rounds of deployment, set to begin in April, will focus on businesses in the 12-county Triad region and it aims to invest in five companies this year.
EQIV will also leverage an ecosystem of partners, including local organizations such as the Flywheel Foundation, HUSTLE Winston-Salem and Innovation Quarter.
“The trends have been clear for quite some time, and we’re pleased to play our part in deploying more capital to where it is needed,” Mohsen said. “Our model, our partners and our focus are innovative. We hope our work creates a demonstration effect that other funders can follow to help move the needle in the right direction for underestimated entrepreneurs.”
