In the U.S., Black-owned businesses don't have equal access to financial capital compared to white-owned businesses. According to the Minority Business Development Agency, causes of this disparity include racial discrimination and unfair lending practices. That's why the grants are especially helpful to Black business owners.
9 Grants for Black Business Owners
- Local Business Fund
- PowerShift Entrepreneur Grant
- Wish Community Empowerment Program
- NBMBAA Scale-Up Pitch Challenge (University Edition)
- SUPPORT A BAR
- Galaxy Micro Grant
- Kinetic Business Black Business Support Fund
- Comcast RISE Innovation
- Oakland Black Business Fund
Applying for a small business grant is a rigorous process that involves collecting tax returns, bank statements, and proof of income. To ensure your application is eligible, check if your business meets the grant requirements. in front Complete and submit the application.
Remember, once you have created one grant application, it will be easier to apply for future grant opportunities.
Here is a list of grants or organizations that award grants for Black business owners, including information on eligibility, application procedures, and sponsoring organizations.
1. Local Business Fund
The NAACP and Nextdoor Kind Foundation have teamed up to create the Keep It Local Business Fund, which will provide $5,000 microgrants to entrepreneurs of color. In addition to the Minority Business Grant, business owners will have access to training materials and will be promoted on Nextdoor. The grant has specific criteria, such as being a community-focused business and having less than $1 million in annual gross revenue. You can apply online.
2. Power Shift Entrepreneurship Grant
Twenty Black entrepreneurs will have the chance to win $25,000 to expand their businesses through the NAACP PowerShift Entrepreneur grant. Shark TankThe grant is led by Daymond John of . In addition to the grant, each entrepreneur will receive mentorship and brand recognition. Applications usually open in early to mid-October.
3. Wish Community Empowerment Program
Wish Local is an e-commerce platform that enables physical pickup and delivery of online purchases. Wish Local has established a $2 million fund to award Wish Local Empowerment grants of $500 to $2,000 to Wish Local's partner Black-owned brick-and-mortar small businesses. Grant funding is flexible. Other grant conditions include having average annual revenue of less than $1 million and participating in Wish Local (at no cost to the business) if awarded a grant.
4. NBMBAA Scale-Up Pitch Challenge (University Edition)
The annual NBMBAA ScaleUp Pitch Challenge awards startups $50,000, $10,000, $7,500 or $1,000 in prize money from the National Black MBA Association. The competition allows startups to connect with early-stage investors and venture capitalists (VCs). The newly launched collegiate edition will award a top prize of $50,000 to an entrepreneurial college student. Eligibility includes being Black-founded and having a team member who is an active member of NBMBAA.
5. Support for Bars
The NAACP and Bacardi have partnered to create $10,000 BAR ASSIST Grants for Black-owned businesses in the hospitality industry that have (or hope to obtain) a liquor license. Grant recipients will receive funding, as well as education and business assistance to help jumpstart their business. Applications are typically accepted from mid-June through late July.
6. Galaxy Micro Grant
Galaxy of Stars, a member-based resource platform that supports minority small business owners (in collaboration with Hidden Star, an organization that supports low-income and minority-owned small businesses), offers Galaxy Micro-Grants every year. The simple application process asks for basic information like contact information, ethnicity, and whether you're a current or prospective business owner, and they also promote grant opportunities through social media.
7. Kinetic Business Black Business Support Fund
Kinetic Business, an Arkansas-based fiber optic internet company in Windstream, is offering Black Business Support Fund grants of up to $2,500 to Black-owned small businesses in its service area. Grants are available to small businesses (25 employees or less) and for-profit businesses, subject to industry restrictions.[利用可能かどうかを確認]Click the button to see if your business is located within our service area.
8. Comcast RISE Innovation
Comcast NBCUniversal will award $10,000 grants from the Comcast RISE Investment Fund to 100 small businesses owned by people of color. Eligible businesses must be located in Atlanta, Southern Colorado, Houston, Jacksonville or Richmond, Virginia. Grants will provide funding as well as technology, media and marketing support. Once eligibility is confirmed, you can apply online.
9. Oakland Black Business Fund
Black-owned businesses in Oakland, California can apply for grants through the nonprofit Oakland Black Business Fund (OBBF), which partners with Community Bank of the Bay, the nonprofit Community Development Coalition and others. Grant recipients will receive funding and technical assistance to access business growth strategies. The application is easy to complete online. Grant amounts are not publicly available on the OBBF website.
What are grants?
Grants are funding opportunities for a set amount of money that are typically issued by various providers, such as local, state, or federal governments. Grants can also be awarded by private organizations, such as corporations, or through public-private partnerships. By definition, grants do not have to be paid back and are not considered small business loans or forgivable loans. However, there may be regulations about how each recipient can use the grant money.
In this case, the criteria for the small business grant include being black-owned. Typically, each small business must meet additional grant requirements, such as being located in a certain county or state, having a certain number of employees, incorporating a social impact perspective into their business model, embodying certain values, having minimum or maximum total revenues, or having founders from certain demographics.
Grants aren't always widely advertised and may have short application periods. You can learn about these opportunities by networking with other small business owners and taking advantage of resources from organizations and agencies such as the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the American Network of Small Business Development Centers, Hello Alice, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMDC).
The SBA also facilitates programs such as Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and distributes federal grant funding through other federal agencies such as NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), helping to close funding gaps for underrepresented founders.
Five types of grants
- Lump sum subsidy
- Special purpose grants
- Workshop and incubator grants
- Pitching Competition
- Service Subsidy
Grants for BMEs come in many forms, from a set amount deposited in a business's bank account to one tied to participation in a workshop or program. Here are some examples of the types of grants available to BME entrepreneurs:
Lump sum subsidy
Some grants for small businesses are paid in a lump sum and come with no strings attached.
Special purpose grants
A small business owner might win a $15,000 grant, but must allocate the funds to a specific part of their business, such as scaling up production, reducing their company’s carbon footprint, or completing a social impact project within a certain deadline, as determined by the grant provider.
Workshop and incubator grants
Grants are often awarded in conjunction with a cohort position that requires founders or business owners to participate in a business development program or accelerator that supports early-stage startups. Grants can be in the form of capital investment or cash.
Pitching Competition
Pitching competitions are popular in the technology sector and other industries such as wellness, health, and food. Prizes are awarded to entrepreneurs who deliver well-crafted business pitches to a public or private audience. These grants may come in the form of cash, capital investment, or both.
Service Subsidy
Grant funding can take the form of free services, such as marketing and technical assistance worth $5,000, legal services, or time in a co-working space or community kitchen.
What is a Black-owned business?
For many business owners, it may seem self-evident that a Black-owned business is one whose leaders, founders, or owners are Black — therefore, it is a Black-owned business — but what if multiple owners, parent companies, or majority-owning investors are of a different race or mixed race?
While each grant may have its own definition of a Black-owned business, it basically boils down to being Black-led. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Business Ownership Survey, a Black-owned business is one in which Black or African-American people own 51% or more of the company's stock, interest or shares.
When a grant program is open to minority business owners or entrepreneurs of color, that typically means that 51% of the business is owned by someone who is Black, Asian Indian, Asian Pacific, Latino or Native American, or a combination of these groups.
What are the grants for Black business owners?
Grants for Black Business Owners are grant opportunities created specifically for Black entrepreneurs and Black-owned businesses by both the US government and private organizations. These private and federal funding opportunities open the door to minority grants, helping Black businesses grow and succeed, and could be a stepping stone to closing the Black-White wealth gap.
Black-owned businesses today are more likely to be able to access capital and business financing thanks to laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Black-led CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions), and increased support for minority business development.
Frequently Asked Questions about Black Business Owner Grants
Are there grants available for Black independent business owners?
The National Association of the Self-Employed (NASE) is offering ongoing grants of $4,000 to self-employed individuals of any race. Membership is required to apply.
What are some of the largest Black-owned businesses in the United States?
Successful black-owned businesses span multiple sectors, with some of the largest companies including real estate investment trust RLJ Lodging Trust, digital media company Urban One, and biopharmaceutical company Global Blood Therapeutics.
Are there VC funds that invest in early stage Black-founded startups?
There are a growing number of venture capital (VC) firms that invest specifically in Black founders. Some also invest in a broader range of minority-owned businesses, including Black-owned businesses. To name a few, Health Equity Ventures and Jumpstart Nova invest in Black-owned healthcare startups; Impact America Fund and Collab Capital invest in a range of Black-founded startups; Fearless Fund invests in startups founded by women of color; Gener8tor is an accelerator for Black founders; and BK-XL is an accelerator for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) founders.
