The lack of diversity among founders and investors in startupland is a deep-rooted issue that has traditionally gone unaddressed. Pitching a company to investors, advisors, customers, and other stakeholders is by and large a process of marketing oneself as a founder and as a leader. In a space where personal brand is a key determinant of success, there is a firmly rooted precedent as to who constitutes a startup founder or investor. A quick Google Image search verifies exactly what we are referring to.
In 2018, a mere 1% of venture capital funding went to Black startup founders. This disparity is even more prevalent among Black female entrepreneurs which are allocated only 0.02% of VC funding. Around 63% of Black Americans are interested in starting their own company, but 14% reported having no real role models. Learning from successful members within your community can be critical to increasing exposure and visibility, maintaining motivation, and boosting confidence for an aspiring founder.
Ten leading universities across the country have partnered to create Amplify, an on-going speaker series to support and empower underrepresented communities in entrepreneurship and venture capital. Amplify is a collaborative and continuous effort between universities across the country. We hope to educate, inspire, and pave new paths forward for underrepresented voices in startupland with each speaker we host, and with each conversation, we spark as a result.
For our first Amplify series, we are featuring the experiences, creations, triumphs, hardships, and learnings of Black entrepreneurs. We want to build off of the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement and the meaningful and impactful protests following George Floyd's murder. As students at leading institutions, our platforms have been far too silent. The platforms and networks we have are a privilege that must be used. Releasing statements condemning systemic racism, although a good first step, is not enough. Inviting diverse voices to our platforms and honoring underrepresented groups in startupland constitutes concrete action. The overarching goal of our first Amplify series is to mitigate racial inequity in entrepreneurship, and we plan on lending our platform to other diverse voices in future Amplify series.
In the upcoming weeks, each of our partnering universities will host a virtual speaker. All students are welcome to each of the Amplify events, and we further encourage professors, alumni, family, and friends to tune in. To ensure these events are as widely accessible as possible, Amplify events are technically free to attend. However, we do hope that many of you will choose to purchase a ticket for our event. All ticket proceeds will be directly donated to Black Lives Matter and affiliate organizations.
We hope to see you at the speaker events in the coming weeks. Thank you for helping us Amplify Black voices.
In Solidarity,
The Yale Entrepreneurial Society, Harvard Ventures, Fordham Entrepreneurship Society, Cornell Entrepreneurship Club, Entrepreneurship Program at Brown University, Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs, Cal Hacks (UC Berkeley), Cardinal Ventures (Stanford), Wharton Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club, & Vanderbilt Innovation & Entrepreneurship Society
