Innovative black-led companies in the UK are set to benefit from a £100 million (KY$109m) investment fund created by a unique team of venture capitalists who are strategically targeting businesses that also deliver a positive social impact.
Black-owned and managed venture capital 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.
It is managed and advised by an accomplished and ethnically diverse team that 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 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.
According to recent research by the Economic and Social Research Council, businesses run by black and minority ethnic (BME) entrepreneurs were estimated to contribute up to £32 billion (KY$35bn) per year to the British economy.
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.
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