伦敦 (CNN Business) 英国的黑人科技企业家表示，他们必须依靠外国投资者才能开展业务。
在 Black Lives Matter 抗议活动促使英国政府调查对黑人企业主的歧视一年多后，尽管初创企业蓬勃发展，英国风险投资公司继续忽视黑人和少数族裔创始人。
“很明显，英国不是为你的创业公司筹集资金的地方，”Business Score 的创始人 Rich Serunjogi 说，该公司将电子商务公司与营运资金融资相匹配。 “只有最优秀的 [英国] 风险投资公司才会感兴趣。二流基金往往会忽视黑人创始人，并给出诸如企业市场规模不够大或想法‘太小众'等借口。”
根据追踪少数族裔企业面临的投资障碍的非营利组织 Extend Ventures 的数据，在 2009 年至 2019 年期间，英国初创企业可获得的所有风险投资中只有 0.24% 流向了 38 位黑人创始人。
根据英国 Tech Nation 最近的研究，2020 年的可比数据尚未公布，但对于试图筹集资金的英国初创公司来说，总体上是丰收的一年，风险投资公司的投资达到创纪录的 113 亿英镑（150 亿美元）。帮助英国科技公司成长的公私机构。
英国今年也迎来了第一批黑人独角兽。 Zepz（前身为 WorldRemit）筹集了 2.18 亿英镑（2.92 亿美元）和 Marshmallow 6200 万英镑（8500 万美元），估值分别为 50 亿美元和 12.5 亿美元。
但在初创公司生命周期早期的关键阶段，黑人创始人面临着更加艰难的时期。他们说英国资金不足。
“这是一个好坏参半的情况，”Foundervine 的董事总经理 Izzy Obeng 说，这是一家社会企业，帮助那些想要创业的代表性不足的企业家。
“面临的挑战是有很多表现姿态，但没有足够的投资者研究黑人拥有的初创公司的投资数据，以及黑人基金经理创建的基金以及流向多元化创始人的金额，”她说。添加。
英国私募股权和风险投资协会告诉 CNN Business，它“敏锐地意识到来自黑人和其他不同种族背景的创始人所面临的挑战”，并补充说它已经与 Extend Ventures 和风险投资公司进行了讨论，以讨论可以采取的行动采取。
“我们最近的报告确实显示自 2019 年以来在性别方面取得了一些进展，但很明显，需要做更多的工作来确保所有人的适当代表性，包括种族问题，”它在一份声明中说。
Black tech entrepreneurs struggle to find funding in Britain. Now they're looking abroad
London (CNN Business)Black tech entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom say they have to rely on foreign investors to get their businesses off the ground.
More than a year after the Black Lives Matter protests prompted the UK government to investigate discrimination against Black business owners, British venture capital firms continue to neglect Black and ethnic minority founders despite a booming startup scene.
"It is clear that the UK is not the place to try and get funding for your startup," says Rich Serunjogi, founder of Business Score, which matches e-commerce companies with working capital financing. "Only the very best [UK] VCs are interested. The second-tier funds tend to ignore Black founders and give excuses such as the business' market size not being big enough or the idea being 'too niche'."
Between 2009 and 2019, only 0.24% of all venture capital available to UK startups went to just 38 Black founders, according to Extend Ventures, a non-profit that tracks the investment barriers minority businesses face.
Comparable data for 2020 has not yet been released, but it was a bumper year overall for UK startups trying to raise funds, with venture capital firms investing a record ￡11.3 billion ($15 billion), according to recent research by Tech Nation, a UK public-private body that helps British technology companies grow.
Britain also got its first Black-owned unicorns this year. Zepz (formerly WorldRemit) raised ￡218 million ($292 million) and Marshmallow ￡62 million ($85 million), taking them to valuations of $5 billion and $1.25 billion respectively.
But at the critical stage early in the life cycle of a startup, Black founders face a much tougher time. They say not enough UK funding is coming their way.
"It's a mixed bag," says Izzy Obeng, managing director of Foundervine, a social enterprise that helps underrepresented entrepreneurs who want to set up a business.
"The challenge is that there are a lot of performative gestures, but not enough investors looking into the data on investment in Black-owned startups, and also at the funds being created by Black fund managers and the amount going to diverse founders," she adds.
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association told CNN Business it is "acutely aware of the challenges faced by founders from Black and other ethnically diverse backgrounds," adding that it had held discussions with Extend Ventures and venture capital firms to discuss action that can be taken.
"Our most recent report does show that some progress has been made on gender since 2019, but it is clear there is more work needed to ensure proper representation for all, including on ethnicity," it said in a statement.
