Despite, well, everything, the U.S. is still the best place in the world for Black startup founders to raise money. The check sizes are bigger, the market more mature, the ambition oversized. There are more funds, more options, more opportunities, more, more, more.
It’s quite easy to harp on the dismal funding and often discriminatory treatment that Black founders receive in the U.S. Through the haze, though, the reality is that the heart of the American Dream is still beating.
“Across the pond in the U.K., thinking tends to be very limited, especially around the seed stage,” he said, adding that a seed in the U.S. is a pre-seed or family round in the U.K.
“I think this is because of how small the U.K. is compared to other regions, so the mind can only dream so big. It’s a spiral really — less wealth, less capital, fewer ideas that become unicorns.”
“I can definitely say the U.S. is a better environment for Black founders,” he told TechCrunch. “Why? More diverse investors in the U.S. More investors are investing in nontraditional businesses. More institutional investors are providing ticket sizes from $100,000 to $500,000 in the idea stage, more opportunities to build a founder network, and more investors that have already invested in Black founders in the past.”
Despite myriad flaws, US remains top spot for Black startup founders seeking VC dollars by Dominic-Madori Davis originally published on TechCrunch
