WHY NEW VOICES?

With equal access to capital, expertise and networks, women of color owned 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 women 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 women of color 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 women of color 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.

$2,620,000 in non-dilutive capital and matched support dollars has been invested in 206 companies owned by women of color.

1,200+ hours in direct business coaching support for pitch competition winners, PACE bootcamp and mobile accelerator participants.

$14,200,000 in equity investments raised by winning companies.

$26,900,000 in grants, equity and debt capital accessed by companies in the New Voices ecosystem.

25,500 member companies registered on our New Voices platforms.

18 pitch competitions at EssenceFest, CES and other leading national and regional anchor events.

PACE Model

Driven by its PACE (Purpose.Access.Capital. Expertise) model and commitment to creating a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, New Voices offers women of color entrepreneurs 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 women of color founders through pitch competitions and brokered grant programs. Each competition awards $100,000 in cash grants, ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, 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 $2.62 million in non-dilutive capital and matched support dollars in companies owned by women of color, hosted eighteen pitch competitions for over 200 women at EssenceFest, CES and other leading national and regional anchor events, provided hundreds of coaching and mentorship hours, and connected them to meaningful networking and partnership opportunities.

Meanwhile, our vibrant New Voices community of 25,000+ women of color owned 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.

new-voices-pace-diagram