$5K Startup Grant for Black Women
Congrats to 2022 recipient — Grounded!The Why
We're small, but we’re here to make a big impact. We took $5,000 out of our savings to turn the initial idea of Pepper into a successfully funded Kickstarter project. Rather than adopting a growth-at-all-costs mentality that usually requires raising venture capital from the very beginning, we hustled for as long as possible so that we could grow our community the way we wanted. Now, we’re giving that $5,000 back every year in the form of a no strings attached grant. But that’s not all: in addition to the grant, we are also committed to providing access to our own networks, resources, exposure, and mentorship opportunities.
The Pepper Startup Grant is specifically for Black women business owners, a dynamic group that has been systematically disenfranchised when seeking to acquire the necessary venture capital funding to expand their businesses. We’re here to change that.
Pepper was inspired by a passion to change beauty standards for women who are overlooked in the bra industry, now we want to help underrepresented Black entrepreneurs kick start their businesses, in their own way.
2022 Grant Recipient
Danuelle Doswell & Mignon Hemsley of Grounded
Grounded is on a mission is to help people disconnect from busy life and decompress through the appreciation of plants. Grounded is more than just an online plant shop — The business is helping people tap into the healing power of plants with complimentary one-on-one calls with plant specialists, virtual and local pop-up events, and other engaging educational resources. Click to learn more about Grounded.
The Program
One recipient will receive a zero strings attached $5,000 financial grant and the following benefits:
- Mentorship calls with the founders of Pepper
- Dedicated promotion on Pepper’s social media accounts
- Access to consultations with experts in legal, fundraising, finance, marketing, website, and relevant fields as needed, to address your specific needs
We’re excited to partner with Startup Girl Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit venture capital fund investing in female founders to administer the grant.
Eligibility
Find out if you're eligible:
- Business in any industry
- At least 50% of the business must be owned, controlled or operated and managed by Black or African-American, female or non-binary identifying owner(s)
- At least 18 years old
- U.S resident, and your business must have U.S legal entity (i.e C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership)
- Early stage business with less than $500K in external equity financing raised
FAQS
For more information please email grant@wearpepper.com
How many grants will be awarded? One grant will be awarded per year
Do I have to pay back the grant? Nope!
When is the deadline to apply? 2022 applications are now closed
Are there requirements for how recipients need to spend the funds? No, as long as it's business related
What is the selection proccess? Our selection committee consists of Pepper Founders, Jaclyn Fu and Lia Winograd, Pepper Chief of Staff, Pranidhi Dadhaniya, and Startup Girl Foundation Founder Shilpa Yarlagadda. The selection committee will select five semi-finalists by October 7, 2021. Semi-finalists will be asked to submit a short video that will be used to select the final grant recipient winner.
What is the selection criteria? The committee reviews all applications submitted within the period and judges each application based on the following criteria:
- Demonstrates passion and creativity for solving the specific problem (40%)
- Demonstrates viable business opportunity with clear plans (30%)
- Demonstrates financial need (20%)
- Ability for Pepper to support and add value (10%)
Will my competitive business and financial information be kept confidential? Definitely! Your application will only be seen by the selection committee.
What benefits will recipients receive in addition to the financial grant? Grant recipients can also receive introductions to relevant funding opportunities, including being presented to the Startup Girl Foundation investment team, workshops and consultations with experts in various fields as needed such as PR, legal, website, finance, customer service etc, monthly mentorship calls with Pepper founders, promotion on Pepper’s social media accounts.
What is Startup Girl Foundation? Pepper is working with Startup Girl Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity, to administer the grant. Startup Girl Foundation is a nonprofit venture capital fund investing in female founders through profits from Shiffon Co. Startup Girl Foundation's founder, Shilpa Yarlagadda, was also Pepper’s first female investor!
Where can I find the official terms and conditions? Official terms & conditions
Where can I find the application? Click here for application