For a black-owned startup to grow quickly, its founders must be able to get venture capital funding. In actuality, this applies to all founders, not just black-owned startups. This is because it’s easy to plan, carry out, and even set up structures to make sure the business runs smoothly when there are enough funds. And for decades, black entrepreneurs have had limited chances to expand their businesses through venture capital funds.

In 2022, less than 1% of the VC funds invested in the United States went to black founders. This shows how disadvantaged black founders have been over the past years. This disparity has not only affected the growth of startups by black founders but has contributed to diminishing innovation among black entrepreneurs, as they may lack the needed resources to implement their ideas.

Giant companies like Google invest heavily in Africa through its Black Founders Fund for Africa. This initiative is committed to giving funds to black founders’ startups in Africa.

So, the world is generally recognizing the ingenuity of black founders.

Also, thousands of black entrepreneurs have set aside VC funds to assist black-owned startups. Hence, the VC community is no longer an all-white-comer affair. Black entrepreneurs are more likely to get funding when they approach a venture capitalist firm committed to black-owned financing startups.

Here, you will discover a list of different VC funds for black founders and how to access them. This list is incomplete as there are still thousands to explore outside of this.

List of VC funds for black founders

Note that some of these VC funds for black founders may be for early-stage, pre-seed, and seed stages. You need to see the one that best aligns with your startup.

1863 Fund

1863 Ventures is one of the strong brands in the world of VC funds for black founders. According to the founder, Melissa Bradley, 1863 Ventures doesn’t merely give funding to black founders, but “We arm you with the processes & systems you need to succeed,” he said. The firm is strongly committed to investing in New Majority entrepreneurs of all sectors.

645 Ventures

645 Ventures is interested in investing in building the next tech giant company. They are open to investing in seed and series A. They believe that the future of any startup is made, hence, requires enormous amounts of funding and resources to scale through the turbulent water of running a profitable startup. The firm was co-founded by Aaron Holiday and Nnamdi Okiki, with a team of 17 profiling entrepreneurs. They focus on SaaS, Consumer Tech, Infrastructure, and Security. 

The 22 Fund

The 22 Fund primarily focuses on startups that deal in tech manufacturing, exporting, or ready-export companies. It’s open to startups owned by BIOPIC women entrepreneurs,  Businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Accion Venture Lab

The firm was established in 2012 to help fund innovative tech startups. Since its inception, it has supported over 60 startups with operations in 35 countries. Accion can invest up to $1 Million in early-stage startups and would continue to provide support to the start as it grows. They have a strong interest in Agriculture, Commerce, Logistics, Education, and Health, among others. Even though the firm is open to investing in startups globally, its primary focus lies with startups in the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the U.S., and sub-Saharan Africa.

AIN Ventures

Suppose you’re a black founder leading a team of highly skilled and committed workforce in HealthcareTech, CivicTech, SpaceTech, disaster tech, and defense technologies. In that case, AIN Ventures may be your surest door to seeking funds as a black founder. Some of their startups are Orbit Fab, Moth+Flame, CiviTech, Rownd, Zeno, Tradespace, and Phalanx.

Aspect Ventures

Since its start in 2014, Aspect Ventures has been a strong support system for black founders. The company has a strong belief in being open to everyone and thinks that founders with innovative ideas can get over the hurdle of failing after five years if they have a strong support system. They have a strong culture for women and minorities. Aspect Ventures, With its years of presence in the VC world, has tons of startup brands under its watch, like Hotel Night, PredictHQ, TalkIQ, TheMuse, TheRealReal, and a host of the finest of startups.

Aperture Venture Capital

Aperture Venture Capital is a firm with many years of experience in the VC world. The firm was founded by William Crowder and his partner, Garnet Herman, to help fund startup founders who are black and Latino. It also takes pride in being the “VC for multicultural mainstream.” Over the years, they have invested heavily in the following startups: 

Base10 Partners 

When it comes to sourcing funds from black founders, Base10 Partners have proven to be worth considering. With a combined net worth of $3 billion, the company has continued to expand its tentacle by investing in more startups that show a sign of solving “problems for the 99%” of the populace.  

Base Ventures is interested in technology-driven startups in e-commerce, fintech, and software as a service. Its funding goes to pre-seed, seed, and Series A. Since its inception, Base has funded over 30 startups and is willing to invest more as long as the startup shows a proven track record of progress.

Backstage Capital

Backstage Capital is one of the many firms with VC funds for black founders. It’s committed to catering to the funding needs of people of color, women, and LGBT founders across the globe. Since they entered the VC space in 2015, they have invested in more than 150 startups owned by black founders, people of color, and LGBT people.

How Black Founders Can Increase Their Chances Of Raising Funds

Get recommendation

Investors are business-minded people, and as such, none will be willing to put their money in the hands of someone they don’t know, trust, or like. So, getting a recommendation from someone they know about you before you appear before them will give you an advantage over others.

This is one of the reasons why many black founders find it very difficult to get funding from VCs because they don’t have a strong network capable of recommending them or standing in for them before they are invited to the pitch deck. Before approaching them, try to see if you have someone they listen to. Introduce your startup to them.

However, this doesn’t mean getting funding is impossible if nobody teaches you how but it’s safer and easier to do business with someone you can trust.

Join a community

Accelerators and incubator programs are great avenues to connect and build networks and credibility for your startup. A community like Y Combinator is known to have helped thousands of founders provide equity funding and network for VC funding. You should become involved in such communities because you rely heavily on the internet.

Learn to tell a good story at the fundraising deck

Storytelling is a critical part of the fundraising process. As a founder, you must learn to tell a good story about the overall state of the brand in such a way that it will resonate with the VCs. They want to feel connected and understand that you truly know the problem you’re solving with your startup.

Show a record of progress/traction

Some VCs are result-oriented. They want to see a track record of progress for the brand and know that funding the startup would be a blessing and not a curse. Therefore, before you appear in their front, ensure you have a track record of success or a foundation to which you want to expand on and not that you.