Impact Investments That Support Companies Affecting Positive Change
By Raymond Guthrie Chief Investment Officer and Head of Capital Deployment Momentus Capital
In 2022, a Fast Company piece by Porter Braswell released new statistics that painted a telling picture: in 2021, only 1.4% of Black founders received venture capital funds. That’s a stark number when you consider that more than 13 percent of the U.S. population is Black or African American. It is not surprising, however, given that Black investors only make up 3% of the venture capital industry. The numbers are similarly poor for women-led startups, which only receive 2.3% of venture capital funding, and whose leaders only make up 5.7% of venture capital partners.
When you think that racial inequality, specifically as it relates to Black Americans, has cost our economy over $16 trillion over the last 20 years, it’s clear that our approach to investing in diverse entrepreneurs needs to change.