As Google for Startups named Black Founders Fund II (2021) recipients, their selections validated a regional trend we’ve been noticing in the national startup ecosystem. 

We’ve noticed that an increasing number of diverse founders and social entrepreneurs who join the Goodie Nation community are coming from three states outside of our homebase, Georgia. 

The three emerging hubs are California, Texas, and New York. Today’s post will focus on factors giving rise to the emergence of California as a hub for diverse founders and social entrepreneurs. 

 

Engaged Investor Community

A common finding from conversations with panelists during the Venture Atlanta Creating Momentum Series powered by Georgia Power, Goodie Nation, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber was that startup ecosystems emerge when an investor community is activated. 

With Silicon Valley leading the tech scene, it should come as no surprise that California has had an active investor community. However, we’re just now starting to see the investor community begin to engage with diverse-led startups. 

This new activity between investors and diverse founders is a result of growing trust between the two groups which is a product of multiple factors that will be explained in the following sections. 

 

Resources for Diverse Founders

As new and existing resources prioritize diverse founders, they both validate and strengthen diverse-led startups in the California ecosystem. Such an effect helps increase the likelihood that local investors will allocate funding to diverse founders. 

Organizations and funds like Concrete Rose are to thank for bolstering and validating this growing community of diverse founders in California — and ultimately — better positioning them for funding from local investors.  

 

Emergence of Game-Changing Diverse Founders

We’re witnessing an exciting era where diverse founders are beginning to make household names for themselves in California. 

These leaders, of course, pave the way for diverse founders in close proximity by contributing to the institutional knowledge shared among diverse founders through various channels including our founder community. 

Emergence of these big founders also assists in normalizing the idea of investing in diverse-led startups — which further builds the trust needed for activating local investors to engage with diverse founders.

 

Active Community of Diverse Founders

We know from listening to Black Founders Fund I (2020) recipients and speaking with panelists from the Creating Momentum Series, that an active diverse founder community is critical for cultivating a diverse startup hub. 

California has always been a meeting ground for innovators and builders, but we’re noticing an uptick in comradeship among diverse founders in California as they join communities like ours that focus on bringing diverse founders together. 

The cultivation and acceleration of these relationships between diverse founders in California is conducive to sharing the institutional knowledge needed for diverse founders to succeed. 

 

Our Sights are Set on California

We expect this trend to continue growing as more resources are pushed into California’s diverse founder community, so we will do what we can to stoke the fire of positive change. 

If you want to join us in building up diverse founders in California, the best way to get involved is to get in touch with our California founders including the Black Founders Fund I and II recipients as well as the other California founders in our community!

 

Meet Our California Founders

We want to provide as much value to our founders as we possibly can, and a great way to do that is to connect these founders with our excellent network! 

If you’d like to continue closing the relationship gap by helping these founders, see below for how you can get started today.

 

Here’s How You Can Help Them Today

Step 1 – Scroll down the list of founders to find the one(s) you might be able to assist. 

Step 2 – Click on their card for more information, and then click on the “Introduction Link” to start the process of getting in contact with them. 

Note: Please do not contact the founders if you are a service provider. You can register here as an expert instead!