Deadline: 6 May 2024
Applications are now open for the Black Ambition Prize competition that provides a platform for Black and Hispanic founders across the nation to access growth capital, coaching, and a curated community of innovators and mentors.
Eligible applicants consist of Black and Hispanic innovators building early-stage ventures across five distinct categories:
- Consumer Products and Services
- Healthcare
- Media and Entertainment
- Technology
- AI
Why apply?
- Because it’s time to even the playing field. There’s not just space for more Black and Hispanic leaders in these industries, there’s an overwhelming necessity. Your ideas and innovation, combined with the right support, will tip the scales in a way that permanently changes the landscape in these arenas. They know that building bold ideas and innovative companies requires collaboration and support.
- Eligible ventures will compete for awards between $15,000 to $1,000,000.
- Select applicants will receive the following support services:
- Capital
- Coaching
- Pitch, Wellness, and Leadership workshops
- Community
- Online and in-person events and funder introductions
- Cohort-based Mentorship
- Exclusive Training Opportunities with Global Brands
- Resources – Supports valued at more than $20k through partners
- Marketing Opportunities
What additional (non-monetary) benefits will prize competitors receive?
- Black Ambition will provide a broad range of applicants with support to refine and improve their ventures. All eligible applicants will receive access to an online community platform — which includes access to entrepreneurship content and a network of experts.
- Semi-finalists will also be eligible to participate in a 3-month peer-to-peer mentorship program facilitated by seasoned entrepreneurs.
- In addition, finalists will have access to 1-1 mentorship and coaching to develop a strong pitch for their ventures to judges and potential investors.
Eligibility Criteria
- For profit businesses in the fields of consumer products and services, healthcare, technology, AI, and/or media and entertainment are eligible to apply.
- Though the team lead, a founding member must be headquartered in the U.S. and the business(es) must be based in the U.S.
- Black Ambition prizes are designed for teams of two or more. A team member should be an individual playing a critical role for the venture (e.g., employee, essential contracted support) with responsibilities for specific work streams or deliverables for the venture.
- For-profit companies with a social impact are encouraged to apply, and will be evaluated on the same criteria as other companies.
- Teams applying for the Black Ambition Prize must have at least one founder or co-founder who identifies as Black/African/African American and/or Hispanic/Latino/a/. A member of the founding team is defined as having a VP or C-Suite level role. Eligible ventures must have raised no more than $1M in dilutive funding to date.
For more information, visit Black Ambition.
