A new incubator for Black and brown women entrepreneurs is launching in the District.
The eight-month program from D.C.’s Black Girl Ventures and Halcyon will support 10 companies from across the country with business planning, skill-building and pitch sessions, plus a weeklong residency in August 2021. The organizations are teaming up with Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), which has committed leadership support and $170,000 to fund the program.
“As Black and Brown communities continue to reel from the devastating impacts of Covid-19, supporting Black and Brown women founders is more important now than ever,” Black Girl Ventures founder and CEO Shelly Bell said in a statement. “We’re excited to join forces with Halcyon and Bank of America to equip our founders with the support and entrepreneurial training they need to grow their business acumen and position their companies for long-term success.”
The effort aims to address the pandemic’s impact on minority founders; the number of Black-owned businesses dropped by 41% and Latino-owned businesses fell by 32% since the coronavirus hit the U.S., per the National Bureau of Economic Research. The goal, the partners said, is to build “a powerful and supportive community nationwide for select Black and Brown women entrepreneurs.”
“Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs — in recent years Black women-owned businesses have grown 164%, three times faster than all women-owned businesses,” said Halcyon co-founder and CEO Kate Goodall in a statement. “Halcyon knows from experience that growth in entrepreneurship doesn’t always align with distribution of resources and opportunities, and this program aims to ensure passionate, impactful founders can access everything they need to scale their ventures.”
Halcyon and Black Girl Ventures are among the local organizations working to foster equity in the local startup ecosystem for women and founders of color. Both nonprofits are now accepting applications for the new program through Jan. 7, 2021.
Bank of America’s involvement will provide support to those entrepreneurs "who we know are experiencing a disproportionate impact from the health crisis,” Larry Di Rita, the bank’s D.C.-area market president, said in a statement. It's part of a $1 billion commitment to fight racial and economic inequality during the pandemic, and follows the bank’s recent $1 million donation to Northern Virginia Community College, $1 million gift to support Howard University’s Covid-19 testing capacity on the city’s eastern side and other local actions.
Black Girl Ventures, which started up in 2016, works to heighten visibility for founders, especially women, of color. It has helped 76 founders secure grant-based funding through its pitch sessions and connected them with other investors as they mature.
Halcyon, which also launched in 2016 after spinning out of the D.C.-based S&R Foundation, has spent the last year introducing new initiatives to support more social impact ventures, including a new program for startups in the city’s opportunity zones. Halcyon reports its 99 alumni have raised more than $125 million and created 2,000 jobs.
