Open Call for Black Founder Startup Grant

Black women founders are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs out of any throughout history. These founders are best equipped to solve some of the world’s largest unmet needs, and have a legacy of reinvesting in their communities and creating intergenerational wealth. However, Black women entrepreneurs are met with the greatest barriers to accessing capital. This is bullshit.

This perpetual systemic discrimination, the unwillingness & inability of Silicon Valley and venture capitalists to effectively diversify their investments, the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs of color, and generations of inequities against Black people are absolutely inexcusable.

Benefits

• SoGal Foundation has teamed up with Winky Lux, bluemercury, twelveNYC, Twilio, Walmart.org’s Center for Racial Equity and other sponsors to make a small step towards progress by providing several $10K and $5K cash grants to Black women or nonbinary entrepreneurs.
• Awardees will also receive tactical help navigating the fundraising environment at large so that they will have a more equitable opportunity at scaling the next billion dollar idea. They will also receive lifetime “ask-me-anything” access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams. They know this is a small start, and they are hopeful that it will grow. They believe in a brighter future where the next world changing business does not go unrealized because of systemic discrimination.

Eligibility Criteria

• To qualify, you should:
  • Self-identify as a Black woman or Black nonbinary entrepreneur (inclusive of multiracial Black women and multiracial Black nonbinary folks)
  • Have a legally registered business
  • Plan to seek investor financing in order to scale, now or in the future
  • Have a scalable, high-impact solution or idea with the ambition to be the next billion dollar business.

For more information, visit Black Founder Startup Grant.