Venture capital is alarmingly down for Black owned startups

As we alluded, there has been a sizable dip in both the volume and size of venture investments globally this year. There are myriad reasons, both technical and confusing, but it largely boils down to falling valuations and investors pulling back from the excess spending of 2021.

Everyone in tech is feeling the strain, but as stockholders become more cautious those already operating on a minority share will obviously feel the worst impacts.

So-called ‘safe’ traditional networks for investment aren’t typically brimming with Black company founders either – which pretty much explains the whole vicious cycle society needs to break.

‘People tend to default to what they know and what is safe,’ RareBreed Ventures chief McKeever Conwell recently told TechCrunch. He then clarified: ‘Investing in founders of colour, as we’ve seen over decades of VC is not what is deemed to be the safe thing to do.’

Unfortunately, then, it appears the cash-rich five quarters starting in 2021 may merely have been a flash in a pan, though we want to believe this isn’t the case.

Black owned businesses aren’t the only ones being ignored in recent times either. Companies founded by women (and particularly those of colour) have scarcely been acknowledged by investors, receiving just 2.8% and 0.64% respectively of VC funding in 2021.

We constantly hear grandiose pledges to strive for a more equitable world, but the necessary attitude changes to physically make this happen clearly aren’t materialising.

Actions speak louder than words.