Despite, well, everything, the US is still the best place in the world for black startup founders to raise money. The check sizes are larger, the market more mature, the ambition too great. There are more funds, more options, more opportunities, more, more, more.
It’s pretty easy to harp on the dismal funding and often discriminatory treatment black founders receive in the US. Through the haze, however, the reality beats that the heart of the American Dream still beats.
For example, Lotanna Ezeikea series founder, said he wants to raise money for his new startup in the US, despite raising more than $1 million for its UK-based fintech, XPO.
“On the other side of the pond in the UK, thinking is often very narrow, especially around the seed stage,” he said, adding that a seed in the UK is a pre-seed or family round in the US.
“I think this is because the UK is so small compared to other regions, so the mind can only dream so big. It’s basically a spiral: less wealth, less capital, less ideas becoming unicorns.”
Cephas Ndubueze, who is from Germany, echoed similar sentiments. He said he still looks to the US for venture capital its startup because there are more success stories of black founders in the US than in Europe, which means a higher chance of finding his own way compared to Germany.
“I can definitely say that the US is a better environment for black founders,” he told businessroundups.org. Why? More diverse investors in the U.S. More investors are investing in non-traditional companies. More institutional investors are offering ticket sizes from $100,000 to $500,000 in the ideation phase, more opportunities to build a founder network, and more investors who are in the past have already invested in black founders.
While the reception of black founders in the US may seem warmer, the numbers show more of the same. (France and Germany keep no race records, though founders and venture capitalists interviewed by businessroundups.org revealed anecdotal evidence of persistent racism in both markets.) The ironic result is that founders look to the US for networking opportunities.
