1863 Ventures Launches 3Rs Business Development Program with Funding from Capital One and The Rockefeller Foundation

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Feb 22, 2021, 11:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 1863 Ventures has launched 3Rs – Recovery, Rebuild, Resilience – business development program with funding from Capital One and The Rockefeller Foundation.

In light of the detrimental effects COVID-19 has caused in communities of color, 1863 Ventures launched the 3Rs program to empower Black founders through an online curated business development curriculum, business coaching, and monetary grants. The program helps Black businesses navigate the short-term uncertainty of the pandemic, while reevaluating their business models, pivoting where necessary, setting a targeted growth strategy, and executing with a clear roadmap.

Through its partnership with Capital One, 1863 Ventures is providing 100 Black businesses incorporated in the District of Columbia with curated online business development content, $5,000 grants and 3-months of business coaching.

Through funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, 1863 Ventures is providing an additional 1,400 Black businesses across 14 cities in the United States with the same opportunity and grant awards. The respective cities are:

Oakland, CA
Chicago, IL
Newark, NJ
Louisville, KY
Baltimore, MD
El Paso, TX
Gainesville, FL
Boston, MA
Houston, TX
Miami-Dade, FL
Norfolk, VA
Atlanta, GA
Jackson, MI
DC Metropolitan Region (DMV)

"1863 Ventures is humbled to work with Capital One and The Rockefeller Foundation to help Black entrepreneurs in place. Black entrepreneurs were the hardest hit during the pandemic but received the lowest levels of investment to survive," said Melissa Bradley, Founder and Managing Partner of 1863 Ventures. "This program is important because Black businesses are the fastest growing segment of the nation's small business owners. According to a report by the Center for Global Policy Solutions, 'America is currently forgoing an estimated 1.1 million businesses owned by people of color because of past and present discrimination in American society. These missing businesses could produce an estimated 9 million more jobs and boost our national income by $300 billion.' Investing in these businesses is not just a moral imperative but an economic one for Black communities and this country."

Although 3Rs DC with Capital One commenced in November 2020, the program is open through June 1, 2021. 1863 Ventures hopes to not only have this program serve as a quick avenue to provide development coaching and grants to entrepreneurs in DC, but to also continue to build its long-term support of Black owned businesses in the Nation's Capital.

For participants in The Rockefeller Foundation based cities, the business development portal is now open. Grant funding for these cities is expected to commence at the beginning of April 2021.

1863 Ventures Chief Operating Officer, Danny Wright says "now is a pivotal point in time for the world of philanthropy to truly accept the challenge of funding opportunities that foster generational wealth and economic mobility for communities that have been most marginalized in our country. Without organizations actually putting the necessary level of funding behind their missions and like causes, poverty will always exist, regardless of how wealth our nation is on paper."

1863 Ventures is welcoming additional funding partners that can help expand grant awards to other hard-hit communities across the United States. Further, 1863 Ventures welcomes community partners that can help disseminate the program information to businesses that can benefit from the 3Rs program.

About 1863 Ventures

1863 Ventures is the #1 national business development nonprofit for New Majority Entrepreneurs; individuals who have been historically marginalized (e.g. BIPOC). The DC based non-profit organization's mission is to create $100 billion in New Wealth, by and for New Majority Entrepreneurs, by 2030. The organization was founded by Melissa Bradley, entrepreneur, VC investor and Georgetown University associate professor. This year, 1863 Ventures will support over 1,500 New Majority entrepreneurs across the United States, through programming and grant support. Learn more at 1863ventures.net.

SOURCE 1863 Ventures