On the heels of the White House‘s recent challenge to 45 of Silicon Valley’s most powerful firms to help address the access to capital racial and gender gap, a new angel group is working to empower black and Latina women, specifically, to become investors.
The impetus: They will likely invest in other black and Latina-founded startups.
“There are enough white guys investing in other white guys–let’s get more of us investing in more of us,” remarked Natalia Oberti Noguera, Founder & CEO of Pipeline Fellowship, which is an angel investing bootcamp that connects the next generation of female angel investors to training, mentorship and funding.
A fairly recent study found that 89% of investors were male and 11% female, while 87% were white.
To combat these stats, Pipeline Fellowship has partnered up with BeVisible & Black MBA Women as Recruitment Ambassadors, and each will provide scholarships to Black women and Latinas who want to become top angel investors.
“We need to bet on Black women and Latinas,” added Noguera, who was one of Business Insider‘s 30 Most Important Women in Tech Under 30.
Daria Burke, Founder of Black MBA Women acknowledged that what women from these group need most is support.
“We simply have to do a better job in supporting Black women leaders by taking an active role in their development,” Burke said.
For BeVisible Co-Founder Andrea Guendelman, “Relationships and access to capital are the biggest roadblocks for Latina entrepreneurs. However, it doesn’t have to stay this way. And, one way to make sure it doesn’t is to train Latinas to become investors.”
It’s also about getting those from underserved communities involved so that projects that solve problems in their specific communities are funded.
“As an LGBTQ Latina entrepreneur,” added Oberti Noguera, “I’m committed to engaging underrepresented voices and am thrilled to be collaborating with BeVisible and Black MBA Women to activate more Black women and Latina angels.”
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
