Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Through Entrepreneurship
Inspiring Entrepreneurship at HBCUs
We’re committed to locking arms with entrepreneurs and organizations that share our belief that having a diversity of ideas and perspectives is both the right thing to do and good for business.
Through partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the HBCU Founders Initiative is engaging rising students and recent alumni across all HBCUs interested in developing solutions that close the wealth gap ranging from increasing access to healthcare, education, and financial services.
“We believe the key to combating the wealth gap is by focusing on entrepreneurship.”
- Marlon Evans, President, HBCU Founders Initiative
Program Overview
The HBCU Founder’s Program provides students and recent alumni at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with access to the financial and advisory resources necessary to develop technology-enabled businesses.
To date, over 350 students and alumni from over 50 HBCUs have participated in the HBCU Founder’s Program.
Fall 2021 Pre-Accelerator
The 8-week virtual program targets founders past the idea stage of their startup, who are ready to validate a problem and build an MVP. The pre-accelerator will include weekly cohort sessions and a program-wide Friday Speaker Series. The pre-accelerator will run September 6 - October 22, 2021. Applications open now thru August 19th at 11:45 PM PT.
Summer Accelerator
The founders invited to the Summer Accelerator Program will receive $10,000 in non-dilutive capital, technical resources to develop an MVP, physical working space in Silicon Valley, a business advisor, and over $1M worth of service provider perks and discounts to help propel their companies.
Closing the Wealth Gap Pitch Competition
This November, we will host a Closing the Wealth Gap Pitch Competition! We are proud to have Franklin Templeton, Mastercard, and AARP sponsoring prizes for this Fall's pitch competition. Participants should have a prototype in order to apply. Stay tuned for more details.
Join Us!
Sign up below to join the HBCU Founder’s Program. The program will include a Fall 2021 Pre-Accelerator program, speaker series, pitch competition, an opportunity to be selected to participate in the HBCU Founder’s 2022 Summer Accelerator, and eligibility for HBCU Founders Fund investment.