Infographic – 2021 Black Start-Up Funding Rises

Click on image for full-size view (Crunchbase)

17 July 2021. Venture funding for Black-owned start-ups in the U.S. rose to record levels in the first half of 2021, but the percentage of total funding remains low. Crunchbase reported this week on venture funding for Black entrepreneurs in 2021, from data the technology investment database collects on venture transactions.

According to Crunchbase, total venture investments for Black-owned start-ups in the first six months of 2021 tripled to $1.8 billion from the $0.6 billion reported in the second half of 2020. This is the largest total amount invested, says Crunchbase, in Black-owned enterprises for any half year period. The number of venture or rounds, or deals, dipped somewhat in the first half of the year to 137, from 159 in the second half of 2020.

Nonetheless, funding for Black entrepreneurs so far in 2021 remains a small slice of total venture funding in the U.S., 1.2 percent, despite Black Americans representing 13 percent of the population. The number of venture deals for Black-owned start-ups represents 2.1 percent of all investment transactions in the first half of 2021, a relatively constant percentage for the past few years. Most (62%) of the deals involving Black entrepreneurs in the first half of 2021 were for seed-stage rounds.

Investors and entrepreneurs interviewed by Crunchbase News say the jump in investment funding this year for Black entrepreneurs can be traced to more Black investors in executive positions at venture capital companies, a greater willingness to invest in a wider range of promising start-up companies than before, and heightened awareness of racial divisions since the George Floyd murder last summer.

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Infographic – U.S. Leads Record Q2 Venture Funding
• Infographic – Global Venture Funds Hit Record High
• Venture Investor to Back Underserved Tech Entrepreneurs

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