Nonprofit says Black, brown tech founders need these 4 things to succeed

The Michigan Founders Fund is an organization with a host of founders in the technology and startup industries. Overall, 33% of the organization’s members are underrepresented business founders, meaning anyone whose access is reduced because of their gender, racial or economic backgrounds. So the Michigan-based organization, which was founded in 2020 with 75 members, hosted a town hall event last month to dive deep into the issues that Black and brown founders are facing.

The team of founders who organized the event plans to host an event every quarter of the year. There is hope to continue connecting founders with resources and help them to know that they don’t always have to search for funding out of state. “Although there are different entities within the ecosystem that are helping to drive that, it still feels like there’s fragmentation from going from where they are to getting to where they want to be,” said Ashley Williams, founder and CEO of RIZZARR, an online marketplace for content creators to share their work and connect with each other.

“And part of that is there needs to be more conversations around what is preventing this from happening. ” Johnnie Turnage is co-founder and CEO of Evenscore, a donation platform, which he runs with his wife, Alexa Turnage. He said that although Detroit hasn’t always been an easy place to build, the ecosystem has changed and more funders are supporting each other.

“We keep seeing this stat on how less than 2% of (venture capital) goes to underrepresented founders, but less than 1% goes to Black founders,” said Turnage. “I just believe once you become aware of something, you do have a responsibility to do something about it. ” More: Black History Month: 2 Detroit funeral homes find ways to support each other More: Family receives $98K in donations after house fire, top donation by Kristen Bell There’s an effort in-house to keep their members in Michigan.

Trista Van Tine, executive director of the Michigan Founders Fund, said that more than 75 founders and venture capitalists who are organization members have pledged 1% of their profits to the organization’s grant-making fund that helps to support other organizations. Here are some things that Black and brown founders said they need in order for their businesses to thrive in Michigan: More access to capital. Johnnie Turnage said that even though there is a constant conversation about access to capital, one may “forget how wide of a gap it is.

” He said that underrepresented founders go through several hurdles — such as the lack of access to networks, a lack of representation, limited capital and resources, discrimination, bias to enter rooms full of investors. More physical spaces to cultivate connections. These business support spaces, such as Centric Place and the Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance, help to create connections for accountants, legal support, business plans and insurance, said Johnnie Turnage.

Sharing of personal stories of those who have had success can help someone else. Alexa Turnage said that those personal stories help people to take the next steps of, “Here’s how we can move forward and work together,” she said. Connecting founders with angel networks.

There are many networks in-state that connect angel investors with founders. There are also some networks that specifically work with underrepresented founders. Contact Chanel Stitt: cstitt@freepress.

com.