Innovative black-led companies in the UK are set to benefit from a £100 million investment fund created by a unique team of venture capitalists who arestrategically targeting businesses that also deliver a positive social impact.
Black-owned and managed venture capital (VC) firm Impact X has recently been launched to invest significant money in the businesses of under-represented groups such as the African Caribbean community and women in this country and across Europe.
DIVERSE
It is managed and advised by an accomplished and ethnically diverse teamthat has over 500-years’ worth of investment and management experience.
Among the founding members of the team are Paula Groves, General Partner, and a co-founding partner of the £54 million technology focussed fund Axxon Capital who has over 20 years’ private equity and investment experience; Ursula Burns, Vice Chair, Digital & Technology, the first black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Xerox, and named as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes; Eric Collins, CEO, a serial entrepreneur who has helped sell companies to the likes of Microsoft and Nuance as well as running a number of successful venture capital companies across the world and Ric Lewis, Impact X Investment Committee Chair, who is also the founder, Chairman and co-CEO of the largest black owned business in the UK, Tristan Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm with £11bn under management.
According to recent research by the Economic and Social Research Council, businesses run by Black and minority ethnic (BME) entrepreneurs were estimated to contribute between £25-£32 billion pounds per year to the British economy.
Other figures, published in 2017, from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), highlighted the fact that the Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate among non-white Britons was 14.5 per cent, compared to 7.9 per cent for white Britons.
INVESTMENT
Yet despite growing levels of entrepreneurial activity in the BME community, aspiring black business owners often struggle to get significant investment to help their businesses grow.
Statistics also reveal that only 1 per cent of VC investments – a private or institutional investment made into early-stage or start-up companies that have huge potential to grow – go to black owned businesses.
Female led businesses fare only marginally better receiving just 4 per cent of such funding.
OPPORTUNITIES
The overwhelming majority of VC investments go to white university educated men. Impact X sees this as a huge gap in the VC market that offers real opportunities.
Speaking exclusively to The Voice about the project Collins the disparity in funding is a real gap in the market that offered investors real opportunities.
He said: “Everyone can look at the numbers and say black entrepreneurs in Europe, no matter what country we’re talking about, whether its France with its 8 per cent black population or the UK with its three per cent black population and realise very quickly that only a very small sliver of risk capital, or in our case venture capital, goes to supporting black-owned businesses. And we find that because of that there are businesses that just don’t get opportunities or just don’t get created. We believe that the next Air BnB or the next Google is going to come from a black entrepreneur who is sitting around thinking of creative ways to solve problems that her community sees.”
The idea to create Impact X came out of a meeting of high profile entrepreneurs, investors and celebrities including Sir Lenny Henry that took place in May 2018.
You can read the full version of this story in the latest edition of The Voice out now
Comments Form
12 Comments
Great project. However you have committed a very critical fact: the meeting that took place was hosted by Tom Ilube CBE. Tom organised a ‘hackathon’ with many from the BAME creative and business communities. A host of ideas came from that meeting and the Impact X porject was deemed the most worthy. Tom was the ‘first mover’ for this project.
Hello Good morning, my name is marlan Barrett, i do invention and design of electoral tools and appliances and baby push chair, i am looking for someone to help me, I am looking for investment to start a new manufacturing company in the UK, so if you can help me I would be great fuel for your help
We are a Performing Arts organisation and would like to learn more about this project,our organisations is called X7eaven.
Very interested in the possibility of obtaining and making an application for start up business finances
Kind Regards
Stan louis
Excellent! Is Tom still involved with the project?
Hi I am the co owner of a Massage School. London School of Complementary Health. I am wanting to develop my school in more cities in the Uk as a franchise and in Ghana/Gambia and other African countries.
Hi I would lIke to know more info and to receive an application if possible?
Many thanks
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for offering your service to the African and Caribbean community. I would be interested in speaking to your about developing community based health care services for people with mental health. I am a qualified nurse and social worker and perceive that services can be improved to meet the needs of the black community in respect of mental health care.
Greetings, I am working on a publication on the premise of a DC/Marvel universe based within the United Kingdom, I would be interested in making an application for a startup funding.
Hi
I have figured out a way to stop cyber crime but i need funding to build a prototype to prove my theory, and use media platforms to showcase it, because of my ethnic background people don’t find me believable.
I have 3 or enterprises 1 cic and 2 Ltd
Sound mind music 432hz holistic wellness and wellbeing (mental about your health) Mindfulness Meets Music/Massage/ Astrology/ Numerology
Mindfulness A.R.K (CiC) Care Providers
The House Of Bonnie Mai (Musician)/ Record Company/Music Distribution/A&R/Agency
I am a black female, living in the heart of Lincolnshire, I have been running my business single handedly for nearly 7 years without any funding as I have not been able to secure any funding or support in this county. My business revolves around a revolutionary innovative concept that has recently been granted a European Patent which has proven the concept that is set to revolutionize nutrition and hydration in the equine industry.
You can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink…right? Well after 800yrs that saying has now been debunked by our game changing, market disrupting Equine Nutritional hydrotherapy solutions.
EquidGel has made it effortless for anyone to get horses to drink large enough amounts of fluid to help prevent dehydration which can lead to colic which is the biggest killer of horses in the world.
Therefore it is a significant milestone in the health and welfare of horses in all area and in all countries and climates, especially for horses in hot countries.
However, being a black female in a very white middle class industry, I feel that I’ve always struggled for my voice to be heard and I am always dismissed rather than embraced for the phenomenal innovation that I designed.
The testimonials, feedback and reviews we have had have been outstanding and has proven how efficient our products. The amazing effects and impact they have had on the performance, behaviour, condition and health of horses, ponies has been remarkable.
However, I have not been successful in securing funding, not even a business overdraft. We have tried in vain to get any funding for universities to carry out even the most basic studies to prove the concept academically and I have been turned down by every university I have approached to carry out studies.
Also the mainstream equine publications are not interested in doing any type of write up regarding the revolutionary concept, the European Patent or any other topic I have sent them as press releases and therefore publicity regarding the novel qualities of the product is not getting out there as news editorial unless I spend hundreds of £ in advertising.
We export to 18 countries, albeit not huge quantities, but regularly and we have client across the whole UK. So there is a huge market out there but having no backing means that although growth is steady, it is also quite slow because we are having to self fund from any profits we make.
Now we have a European Patent, at least now we can shout a bit louder within the industry, but we really could do with some investment that would help us go to the next stage.
If someone could get in touch, I would be so veri grateful as we are ready to expand to the next level of commercialisation.
Kind regards
Sandra Murphy BSc (Hons)
Equine Sports Science
Equine Nutritional Hydrotherapist
Website: http://www.equidiet.org.uk