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| Daymond John, Founder, FUBU; CEO, Shark Branding |
According to Black Enterprise magazine, Black-owned firms are far less likely to receive funding from an angel investor, that is an affluent individual that offers capital to assist business start-ups.
In the U.S. there are currently about 7.2 million accredited investors, or individuals who earn $200,000 or more each year or whose net worth (not including their home) exceeds $1 million. But minority-owned start-ups only represented about 8.5% of those who pitched to these angel investors, and an average of only 15% of them actually get funded.
Most people are aware of Daymond John, founder of FUBU and Shark Branding. He is an angel investor on the hit ABC show Shark Tank. But he is not the only African American angel investor.
If you have a small business and are looking to get funded, here is a list of the top 20 African American investors (as reported by BlackEnterprise.com):
#1 - Daymond John, Founder, FUBU; CEO, Shark Branding
#2 - Simone Castillo, Office of the Vice Chair, Tax, KPMG
#3 - Ken Coleman, Special Adviser, Andreessen Horowitz
#4 - William Crowder, Partner, DreamIt Ventures
#5 - Stephen DeBerry, Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Bronze Investments
#6 - Erica Duignan Minnihan, Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures
#7 - Jon Gosier, Founder, D8A Group, UpStream Analytics, and adviser at SiftDeck
#8 - Michael Howard, Founder and Managing Member, MJH Group
#9 - Charles Hudson, Partner, SoftTech VC
#10 - Troy Carter, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Atom Factor
#11 - Paul Judge, Chief Research Officer and VP, Barracuda Networks
#12 - Lauren Maillian Bias, Founder and CEO, Luxury Market Branding
#13 - Erik Moore, Founder and Managing Partner, Base Ventures
#14 - Valerie Mosley, Chairwoman, Valmo Ventures
#15 - Ati Okelo Williams, Founder, DC Home Buzz
#16 - Eghosa Omoigui, Managing Partner, EchoVC Partners
#17 - Lorine Pendleton, U.S. Director of Business Development, Dentons
#18 - Tim Reese, Co-founder, Minority Angel Investors Network
#19 - Rodney Sampson, Founder, Opportunity Up
#20 - Adaora Udoji, Founder, The Boshia Group