Funding – Page 3 – More from the Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell

Exploring Funding Opportunities For A Variety of Business Models

In this 15 minute video segment, Liz Ngonzi looks at the spectrum of business models from not-for-profits to social enterprises to traditional for-profits and then explores a variety of sources of funding that apply to each model. She also discusses organizations such as incubators and accelerators that can provide both monetary and consulting support to start-up businesses.

Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi is the Founder and CEO of Liz Ngonzi Transforms who as an international educator, speaker, executive coach, and consultant, helps impact-driven leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations to more effectively define and tell their stories, enabling them to improve engagement with their stakeholders. In helping clients she aims to INSPIRE, CONNECT with and ACTIVATE them to create the TRANSFORMATION they seek in their lives and/or organizations. Additionally, Liz proudly supports women leaders and entrepreneurs as a facilitator in the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell. Previously as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Cornell Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship, she helped aspiring entrepreneurs develop and present their unique value proposition to funders.

Amplify Speaker Series

“Amplify” is a free speaker series designed to support and empower underrepresented communities in entrepreneurship and venture capital. In 2018, only 1% of venture capital funding went to Black startup founders. Black female entrepreneurs were only allocated 0.02% of VC funding.

Entrepreneurship organizations at Yale, Harvard, Fordham, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UPenn, and Vanderbilt have come together to schedule weekly speakers. Amplify’s mission is to educate, inspire, and pave new paths forward for underrepresented voices in the world of startups.

The Cornell Entrepreneurship Club and the Sullivan Foundation at Rust College present AMPLIFY Week 4 – on Tuesday, August 4th at 5pm ET – which will feature a conversation with Jean-Pierre Adéchi, the CEO/Co-Founder of Wheeli. He will share thoughts on raising capital as a black founder and include specific lessons for women, minority, and other outside-the-box founders. To sign up for this event, click here.

To add your name to the Amplify mailing list to be alerted to future speakers, click here.

Can Government Programs Counter the COVID-19 Impact on Women Entrepreneurs?

Big red button with word "help" in white letters

In this July 15, 2020 piece in Forbes, author Geri Stengel explores the explosion of women-owned businesses from 2008 to present as well as inequities that still exist (and were made more apparent with the impact of COVID-19) for women and more specifically, women of color. She also discusses how federal, state, and local governments can do more to support women entrepreneurs.

40+ Entrepreneurial Resources For Minority Founders

The team at Pareto has compiled a spreadsheet of over forty resources that are specifically aimed at providing support or funding to minority owned businesses. The list can be found here.

Count Me In Revival Grant Application Is Open

Count Me In is the first national not for profit founded to help women grow their micro-businesses to million-dollar enterprises. They are currently accepting grant applications.

There are 15 grants available at $10K and 4 grants available at $25K each. Contestants have two weeks to complete the application starting on Wed June 24th when the link to the official application will be live. All applications are due no later than Thursday July 8, 2020 COB 5pm PST. More information can be found here.

Survival Plan for Small Businesses Handling Impacts from Coronavirus

woman in white shirt with facemask applying hand sanitizer

While published in late March (which seems like *more* than only a few months ago) this article in Entrepreneur highlights ten important items to consider as your are navigating how to keep your small business afloat during this challenging time. While you may have already addressed many of these items, it is still a useful list to skim through.

Link to Webinar “The Search for Money: How Women Can Negotiate Better Startup Financing”

Victoria Yampolsky screenshot from webinar

Click this link to access the May 27, 2020 webinar entitled “The Search For Money: How Women Can Negotiate Better Startup Financing“. Victoria Yampolsky shares strategies on how to position your company in the best light and how to create an effective fundraising strategy.

Several resources mentioned in the webinar included:

Diversity & Inclusion Event on June 11, 2020 with The Cavu Group (link)
Tech Crunch “Disrupt Now” event on Sept 14-18, 2020 (link) – you can get 10% off with Startup Station discount code: stationstartingup10
Startup Station’s Courses (link) – you can get 20% off with discount code: CORNELL
Free resources available at the Startup Station (link). The Startup Investor Search Guide is available if you join the mailing list on the homepage.

Link to Webinar “Optimize Your Financial Dashboard”

screenshot of Victoria Yampolsky from webinar

Click this link to access the April 29, 2020 webinar entitled “Optimize Your Financial Dashboard: Use Data, Metrics and Key Indicators To Drive Decision-Making” where Victoria Yampolsky discusses key financial indicators that not only help you understand your current position but also help you plan for the future. Victoria also responded to questions from those listening live.

A link to Victoria Yampolsky’s company, The Startup Station, is here.

SheaMoisture Announces Relief Fund for Women Entrepreneurs of Color

Haircare and beauty brand, SheaMoisture and its parent company, Sundial Brands, has announced a $1 million relief fund to help support women of color entrepreneurs and minority-owned businesses affected by coronavirus. Applications will be available online April 8, 2020. Entrants must complete this registration form by 11:59pm eastern time, April 10, 2020. It is a quick turnaround time! For more information, follow SheaMoisture on Instagram or check this link.

Bank of America Resources for Small Businesses

Bank of America has put together a web page with resources for small businesses that are grappling with the challenges stemming from COVID-19 shutdowns. Included on this page is a link to Facebook’s Small Business Grant program. Facebook stated that they will be providing $100 million in grants and credits to 30,000 small businesses and application information will be posted soon.