If people don’t start investing in women entrepreneurs they’re missing out.
How to Catch a Unicorn: Supporting Diversity in Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Innovation
Setup
What if the next great idea for transforming the lives of homeless people, restoring neighborhood economies, or moving people into middle-wage jobs, could be prototyped, tested, deployed, and funded like a Silicon Valley start-up? Simply put, that is the promise of urban innovation in America. This promise is only partially realized, however, because urban innovators struggle to get early-stage investment capital. Many entrepreneurs of color cannot draw on networks of wealthy family members and friends to seed their enterprises. The raw fact of the racial wealth gap hobbles founders who might have the greatest insights into urban challenges and underserved markets. In fact, at just about every stage, people of color have higher obstacles to accessing venture capital. What does it take to create truly inclusive innovation? What do we gain if we succeed? And what brilliant ideas are unrealized because we’re failing right now?
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