VC FUNDING FOR BLACK BUSINESSES FELL 45% LAST YEAR AFTER HITTING RECORD LEVELS. By Jeffrey McKinney, February 13, 2023
In a major setback, venture capital funding for Black businesses dropped significantly last year. (NOTE: Overall, funding has increased from 2013 to 2022. See chart below.) That financial backing fell 45% for those businesses, based on data from analytics firm Crunchbase, per CNBC. The news outlet disclosed that it is the largest year-over-year decline for Black entrepreneurs. And the decrease was much greater than the 36% drop in VC funding altogether. The descent came after venture capital funding for Black founders reached record levels for Black founders in recent years. In the first half of 2021, Black founders raised almost $1.8 billion, more than four times the capital raised during same time the prior year. The fresh numbers offer a glimpse how challenging VC funding can be for Black entrepreneurs. Black founders saw an uptick in VC funding following the murder of George Floyd and subsequent national racial injustice protests. Many of the nation’s largest corporations vowe...