WHY NEW VOICES?
With equal access to capital, expertise and networks, small businesses could have a tremendous impact on our economy, in their communities and within their own families.
This cohort of entrepreneurs has great potential to succeed in business, but frequently lack access to the resources needed to grow, with the majority of startups led by people of color experiencing a significant revenue gap and not raising any money.
We must address this disparity in revenue and funding to help ensure their growth and sustainability.
New Voices is committed to closing these gaps by increasing entrepreneurs’ access to capital and providing vital funding, learning and networking opportunities that allow their businesses to grow, scale and thrive for generations to come.
$65,800
Average Revenue Women of Color Owned Businesses
$218,800
Average Revenue Non-Minority Women-Owned Businesses1
$42,000
Average Funding Raised by Black women who raised less than $1MM
$1,140,000
Average Seed Round for All Startups2
.06% or $289 Million
Funding Has Been Raised by Black women-led Startups
0.32% or $1.36 Billion
Funding Has Been Raised by Latinx women-led Startups
$424.7 Billion
Total Funding3
1 American Express – The 2019 State of Women-owned Business Report
2 Digitalundivided’s ProjectDiane 2018
3 Digitalundivided’s ProjectDiane 2018
IMPACT
Started in 2018, New Voices Foundation is delivering on its promise to help business owners build, grow and scale their businesses and create a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
We provide them with unprecedented access, capital, and expertise via Pitch Competitions; Mobile Accelerators; Coaching and Mentorship for pitch winners and others in the New Voices community; Brokered Grants; Online Learning and Skills Development Opportunities; and Ongoing Communications Outreach via social media, newsletters and other channels.
PACE Model
Driven by its PACE (Purpose.Access.Capital. Expertise) model and commitment to creating a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, New Voices offers unprecedented access, capital, and expertise to build, grow and scale their businesses with purpose.
New Voices Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, is focused on providing flexible funding, learning and networking opportunities to these entrepreneurs via pitch competitions, mobile accelerators, coaching and mentoring, online masterclasses, and communications outreach via social media, newsletters and other channels.
Each year, New Voices provides direct capital support to founders through pitch competitions and brokered grant programs. Competitions award up to $150,000 in cash grants, ranging from $5,000 to $75,000, combined with coaching, mentoring and personalized business skills development post-competition. Additionally, the community of pitch competition winners remain connected and access networking and partnership opportunities through New Voices’ robust ecosystem, helping to further ensure the long term viability and sustainability of their enterprises.
To date, the Foundation has invested more than $2.92 million in non-dilutive capital and matched support dollars in over 250 companies, provided hundreds of coaching and mentorship hours, and connected them to meaningful networking and partnership opportunities.
Meanwhile, our vibrant New Voices community of 30,000+ businesses that are registered on our platform engages with our learning programming and remains connected through our newsletters, social media channels (30,850+ total followers on New Voices’ IG, FB and Twitter), website, and other communications channels, including our unique channel partnership with ESSENCE Magazine and ESSENCE Studios.
DONATE
Every dollar you donate to the New Voices Foundation is a direct investment in women of color owned businesses.
