75 Black women-owned with product-based businesses receive grants and other benefits while enrolled in Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA) including a Professional Selling Account in Amazon’s store.
Black women-owned businesses received another shot of support through $1 million in grants from the partnership of the Fearless Foundation and Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA). The former is the philanthropic arm of Fearless Fund, the first venture capital firm built by women of color.
“We are excited to enroll business grant recipients in Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator, giving each brand access to an unparalleled network of mentors that will allow them to reach their professional goals,” says Arian Simone, Co-Founder and General Partner of Fearless Fund.
The cohort of Black women-owned businesses are eligible for grants ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, while enrolled in the Accelerator. That program combined with the grants will bolster the chances of success for Black-owned product-based businesses selling in Amazon’s store. The recent announcement of the grant awardees noted that only 6 percent of US retail businesses have a Black owner, despite Black Americans representing 14 percent of the US adult population as of data from 2020 (Hello Alice).
“BBA supports the success of Black-owned businesses by providing a place for their businesses, to start, scale, and create a community to encourage and inspire them along the journey. We believe, when we knock down barriers for Black-owned businesses, through those learnings, we unlock the door for all small businesses to thrive,” says Danyel Surrency Jones, Director, and Head of Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator.” We stand firm in our vision to target systemic barriers and leverage our entire community to create sustainable pathways to equity that build generational wealth for not only Black-owned businesses and Black women-owned businesses, but all underserved businesses.”
The $1 million in grants to Black Women Entrepreneurs this year is part of Amazon’s four-year $150 million commitment to the Black Business Accelerator. Application for the program begins with the creation of a Professional selling account and certifying that the business is Black-owned.
