Black Girl Ventures Is Changing The Game For Black Women Founders

Welcome back to Bold Business with Philip Michael. Be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for all things Bold.

With now both a half-million dollar investment from Nike, and a partnership with Visa, Black Girl Ventures has become paramount in their ability to offer access to capital for black and brown women-identifying founders. Speaking with Philip today is Shelly Bell, the Founder & CEO of Black Girl Ventures, to talk about the work of the company.

Chapters

0:00

Who is Black Girl Ventures? BGV exists to provide access to capital, capacity and community for black and brown women founders. Bell says she believes this is a way for these women to become sustainable entrepreneurs and build generations of wealth. According to stats, white families in America hold 10x more wealth than black families, and black woman founders are receiving less than 1% of the venture capital available. So when she launched Black Girl Ventures, her thinking was “let’s just do something about it.” Think Shark Tank meets Kickstarter.

With big names like Nike, Kroger, and Visa, Black Girl Ventures is planning on launching a fellowship. What Bell has noticed during 2020 & 2021 is that we need people who are not only business owners, but business leaders. And the fellowship is meant to bridge that gap.

Bell says that for far too long the rule of thumb in business is all about men founding businesses and men being the ones we should turn towards, and society is geared towards a eurocentric way of business. And at Black Girl Ventures they want to answer the questions, “How can we best serve black and brown women founders?” and “How can we best serve underrepresented groups in business?”

Does Bell think that we will be seeing companies holding their promises to help black owned businesses right now and in the future? Bell says she can only speak to the companies she’s directly worked with, and she says that they have had deeper conversations. The public should know this, too, and should know that these promises are more than performative. And one should look at black and brown employees and their allies in corporations, as they are always pushing for companies to make sure this is more than performative. Bell also is optimistic, and says that we will soon see this as the norm.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

To learn more about Black Girl Ventures click here

👇 FOLLOW PHILIP MICHAEL 👇

Instagram: @yfwtb

Twitter: @Philip_Michael

Subscribe to BOLD TV

Are you ready to be BOLD? Check out our favorite articles:

SAY HI ON SOCIAL:

Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @boldtv