The Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) gave $1.1 million in equity investments to six growing companies as part of its third annual Million Dollar Challenge on Thursday.
Companies founded by Black, Indigenous, or people of color entrepreneurs were eligible to compete in the Million Dollar Challenge.
The winners are:
- City of Industry, California-based Mi Terro: $300,000
- Baltimore-based Femly: $250,000
- Berkeley, California-based Flourish Savings: $150,000
- Los Angeles-based Options MD: $150,000
- Washington, D.C.-based Please Assist Me: $150,000
- Plymouth-based IndusTrack: $100,000
"It's a happy day. It's the culmination of a long process of coaching and helping all these candidates get better at their pitches," MEDA CEO Alfredo Martel said.
The winners were picked from a group of 12 finalists that were announced in December. Over 200 businesses across the country signed up to compete in this year's challenge, and it resulted in the competition's most national group ever. The group was diverse in other ways too. In addition to all being run by BIPOC founders, three of the companies (Femly, Options MD and Please Assist Me) are run by women.
"We feel extremely proud that we've been able to grow this program and elevate it to this level," Martel said.
Because of the financial hardships brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, MEDA invested smaller amounts of money in more companies than in previous years, he said. Each prize was meant to address a meaningful financial need each company faced.
"After 2020 and all the difficulties that all these businesses face, we felt like we could provide each of these finalists impactful investments," Martel said.
And the competition is also designed to raise awareness for its participants. That increased exposure to investors and customers is one of the biggest upsides to the competition, said Raz Bajwa, the CEO of IndusTrack, a company that makes tracking software for contractors.
"I feel honored and deeply grateful to receive the recognition from MEDA," Bajwa said in an email to Minne Inno. "One of the biggest challenges as an entrepreneur is raising awareness among your target audience. The award and publicity will really help us grow."
Founded in 1971, MEDA is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that provides loans, business consulting and other services to minority entrepreneurs. MEDA's clients employ 6,000 Minnesotans and have combined revenues of over $1 billion.
