According to the Forbes culture community, the brown and black entrepreneurs in Canada would access more funding in 2021 than any other year. Many venture capitalists of color have been viewing the move into investing in minority-owned businesses as a way to make more while leading from the front. One of the companies that venture capitalists offered to invest in was Partake Foods that is a snack company owned and founded by black females.
The company deals in allergy-friendly foods and snacks raised over $4.5 million in its series A funding towards the end of December 2020. The investors include Rihanna where she invested in the business as a first investment beyond her businesses. Other investors include Kevin Johnson of the black capital, Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks, John Foraker of Marcy Ventures, FF2032, and Circle Up, Growth partners.
Over 50% of the total $7.5 million invested into partake foods was from minority venture capitalists and investors like Jay Z and his VC Fund, Grammy Award-winning star H.E.R, and local business owners. When asked about the move to approach black and brown investors, Denise Woodard, the founder and CEO of partake foods said that the move was deliberate because she is passionate about increasing the wealth within the black community. She further explains that having investors from minority communities is important in showing the people that it is possible to make a fortune regardless of the background you come from. Having minority investors is also important because they understand the community and the goals that need to be met in growing the community’s wealth.
Denise became the first woman of color to get over 1 million dollars in funding for a food startup. Partake foods are scaling at an exponential rate. The food brand initially started with 350 outlets when 2020 was beginning. By the end of this year, Denise hopes and predicts the store will have to grow to around 5,500 outlets. Denise intends to use the new funding to improve their marketing efforts, expand her team, and grow her production and distribution lines.
As much as Denise is proud of what she has accomplished so far, she understands the lingering reality that minority groups, especially black women, even with them being the fastest growing entrepreneurs in the country they still receive little to no funding. This is a shocking statistic and she’s working to improve. Black women receive less than 1% off funding. This is a statistic that Denise is working to change. Denise has partnered with Clark Atlanta, HBCUs, Howard, and Florida A&M, and NC A&T to come up with an organization called “black futures in food and beverage” that aims to foster inclusivity and diversity in her industry.
Denise travels around the country telling her story about how she sold cookies from her car in the streets of New York every day before she could even scale up her business. She uses herself as an example because she understands the human touch when it comes to struggling in businesses.
