More than $500 Million Invested by "Bank of America" in Equity to Support Minority & Female Entrepreneurs

More than $500 million in equity investments have been made by Bank of America to minority- and women-led funds, more than doubling its initial $200 million commitment."

The bank committed equity to more than 150 funds, which have thus far invested in more than 1,000 businesses located across 40 states. Over 21,000 people are employed by these businesses, which are led by 1,500 diverse entrepreneurs.

"We want to empower the talented fund managers who have a keen understanding of how to identify and support those business owners," said Tram Nguyen, global head of strategic and sustainable investments at Bank of America. “We improve racial equality and economic opportunity every time we sponsor a minority- or women-led fund because they in turn encourage diverse businesses, which eventually aids in our success.”

Nasir Qadree launched Zeal Capital Partners, which "gives underappreciated founders the resources they need to scale towards their next stage of growth."

As an example, this would include being 'an early investment in Esusu, currently one of the few Black-owned unicorns, which provides tools to aid immigrants and minorities to give rent reporting and data solutions for credit creation'.

Fund managers are not only breaking down boundaries for themselves, but they are also investing in businesses that want to spark change.

Chingona Ventures, "led by General Partner Samara Hernandez, was the only active Midwest fund started and led by a Latina at the time of Bank of America's investment."

The fund specifically targets entrepreneurs "with unique backgrounds creating businesses in markets that are often overlooked, like Papaya, a bilingual STEM tutoring organisation to close the educational gap for underserved students."

Bank of America continues "to expand and innovate the capital and resources that entrepreneurs and small business owners of all backgrounds need to help fuel economic growth in their communities."

According to Bank of America, which was mentioned in the update, it is "one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management, and other financial and risk management products and services."

In the United States, the company offers "unmatched" convenience, "serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centres, approximately 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users."

According to the website of Bank of America, it is "a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals around the world."

Through a variety of cutting-edge, simple-to-use online products and services, Bank of America provides "support to approximately 3 million small business households."

Through operations in more than 35 countries, as well as the United States and its territories, the corporation provides services to its customers.