$5K Startup Grant for Black Women
2023 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSEDThe 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
Apply
Applications closed on August 23, 2023 11:59pm MT.
Five semi-finalists will be announced by October 9, 2023 via email.
FAQS
For more information please email [email protected]
- 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%)