Best Small Business Grants For Minorities

Minority small business grants can help level the playing field for business owners from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Unlike loans, minority small business grants are cash awards that do not have to be repaid. While the competition for minority small business grants can be significant, you can increase your chances of qualifying by carefully targeting programs that closely fit your business profile and location.

Below, we’ve gathered some grant opportunities and resources for finding more minority small business grants to help give you a head start in claiming some free money.

The Best Grants For Minorities

Here are eight excellent grants for financing minority-owned business ventures.

Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grants

• Submission Dates: To be announced
• Entry Requirements: To be announced
• Website: https://www.merchantmaverick.com/grant-application-page/

• Submission Dates: Growth Grant applications can be submitted year-round. Applications received in January through March will be reviewed in April. Applications received in April through June will be reviewed in July. Applications received in July through September will be reviewed in October. Applications received in October through December will be reviewed in January of the following year.
• Entry Requirements: Applications are open to members of the NASE that are in good standing. You must also demonstrate a specific need for the grant, provide a detailed explanation of how grant funds will be used, show how the grant will improve business growth and success, and offer up documentation to support your request.
• Website: https://www.nase.org/become-a-member/member-benefits/business-resources/growth-grants

The National Association for the Self Employed (NASE) is a nonprofit trade association that gives grants and provides educational resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Its Growth Grants Program lets small business owners apply for grant financing for a particular small business need.

These grants are worth up to $4,000 each. While you won’t hit the funding mother lode with the NASE, it’s a great resource for minority business owners with a specific, defined funding need. You’ll need to join the NASE to apply for a grant, and you’ll need to explain in detail how you’ll use the funds and how this funding will bolster your business operations.

Annual membership costs $120/year, or you can opt for a monthly membership starting at $11.95/month.

FedEx Small Business Grant Contest

• Submission Dates: Submissions open January 31, and is open for one month. Interested applicants can sign up for FedEx emails to receive updates.
• Entry Requirements: Applicants must be at least 18 years old. All applicants must operate a US-based for-profit small business with 50 or fewer employees and less than $5 million in annual sales revenue. All applicants must also have shipped or plan to ship within the next 12 months as part of their business. Nonprofits, resellers, franchises, and independent consultants are ineligible to apply.
• Website: https://www.fedex.com/en-us/small-business/grant-contest.html

The FedEx Small Business Grant Contest is a nationwide competition held annually to award grants in the form of cash and prizes (such as credits for FedEx services) to small business owners and entrepreneurs. It’s not specifically for minority business owners, but many past winners and finalists have indeed been minority business owners. The amount awarded to contest winners and the number of grant recipients varies year-to-year.

Winners can receive as much as $50,000 from this grant program.

National Black MBA Association Scale-Up Pitch Challenge

• Submission Dates: To be announced
• Entry Requirements: Applicants must be US residents who are at least 18 years old. All ideas submitted must be the original work of the applicant. All applicants must disclose any funding previously received. The business founder must be Black or of African descent and have an equal stake in the business. The applicant or at least one team member must be a member of the National Black MBA Association.
• Website: https://nbmbaa.org/scale-up-pitch-challenge/

Since 2017, the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) has recognized scalable startups and provided grants for black-owned businesses through its Scale-Up Pitch Challenge. This competition gives startups a chance to connect with investors and venture capitalists. Additionally, winners may be awarded prizes from $1,000 up to $50,000 for their pitches.

Interested applicants can submit their pitch and a Powerpoint presentation. The top ten finalists will be invited to pitch their ideas to a team of experts. The top three finalists will then compete at the annual NBMBAA Conference & Career Fair for a shot at winning a $50,000 cash prize, with additional prizes for 2nd place ($10,000) and 3rd place ($7,500), as well as a People’s Choice Award ($1,000).

Sephora Accelerate

• Submission Dates: Applications typically open in August or September
• Entry Requirements: All applicants must be at least 18 years old and be a BIPOC founder of an early-stage beauty brand that’s not yet widely distributed. Applicants should at least have a sample or prototype before applying and must have a merchandise product brand, such as makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair care, and wellness.
• Website: https://sephoraaccelerate.com/

The beauty retailer Sephora is giving back to minorities. The company already signed the Fifteen Percent Pledge by committing at least 15% of shelf space to black-owned businesses. Sephora goes a step further to help aspiring entrepreneurs with grants for minorities through the Sephora Accelerate program.

If selected for the program, winners will complete a six-month program that includes two all-expense-paid trips for program events, mentoring, and a hands-on boot camp. Winners will also receive a monetary grant and be eligible for additional funding. Sephora’s goal is to ensure that all products created by winners are launched in Sephora stores at the end of the program.

Asian Women Giving Circle Grants

• Submission Dates: To be announced
• Entry Requirements: This grant is available to Asian American women-owned businesses in New York City. Per the organization, grants are awarded to “individual artists and community groups that contribute to progressive social and political change.”
• Website: http://asianwomengivingcircle.org/apply/

Over the last 18 years, the Asian Women Giving Circle has raised and distributed over $1 million in funding to Asian American women-owned businesses in New York City. This also includes artists in theater, dancing, and film.

Recipients of these grants have contributed to progressive social and political change through documentaries, choreography, visual arts, street festivals, and workshops.

Comcast Rise Grants

• Submission Dates: 2025 application dates to be announced
• Entry Requirements: Applicants must be at least 18 years old and operate a business with no more than 100 employees. The business must have been in operation for at least three years and revenue generating for the 12 months prior to the application window. Applicants must operate a business in Atlanta, Houston, Jacksonville, Richmond, or Southern Colorado.
• Website: https://www.comcastrise.com/

Comcast Rise is a program offered by the telecom giant to support small businesses and support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Prizes include grants, marketing, and technology services.

First Nations Development Institute Grants

• Submission Dates: Varies by grant program
• Entry Requirements: Varies by grant program
• Website: https://www.firstnations.org

Government Grant Resources For Minority Businesses

Government grants are received from federal, state, or local government funds and are not expected to be paid back. These are given straight from the government to the recipient without an intermediary.

Other Business Grant Resources For Minorities

Seeking additional resources? Check out these options — from SCORE’s mentoring service to other funding sources for your small business.

SCORE

One organization that can get you pointed in the right direction in your quest for business funding is SCORE. It’s an SBA partner and provides mentoring services to small business owners and entrepreneurs from over 300 chapters across the country. SCORE also provides online webinars and business courses.

Venture Capital Financing For Minority-Owned Businesses

VC funding is not a grant per se, as the venture capitalists who invest capital in your company (this capital is also called “seed money” or “seed funding”) receive ownership in your company in exchange for their investment. However, VC funding can be a viable source of capital for some businesses, especially tech startups. There is also a growing list of VC groups that specifically invest in minority-owned businesses.

Here are just a few VC investors that provide seed money to minority-owned businesses:

• New Voices: “New Voices provides capital for startups, established businesses, and community-based enterprises led by women of color entrepreneurs.”
• Kapor Capital: “Kapor Capital invests in tech-driven early-stage companies committed to closing gaps of access, opportunity or outcome for low-income communities and/or communities of color in the United States. We are particularly interested in those that address gaps of disproportionate relevance to African-Americans and Latinx communities.”
• Access Latina: “Access Latina is a nonprofit accelerator that empowers Latin American women in Puerto Rico, US mainland, and Latin America by providing access to capital, knowledge acquisition, and public policy. The program also provides investment resources to women-owned businesses with high-growth potential via a yearly competition in agriculture, social innovation, and STEAM industries. Although Access Latina does not invest directly, it provides capital through grants, loans, crowdfunding round with Kiva Zip, and other accelerators.”

Keep in mind that VCs typically invest in high-growth startups that are already turning a strong profit (e.g., $500K/year). Angel investors — affluent individuals who invest their private money into startups — may invest lesser amounts at an earlier stage of the startup process.

SBA 8(a) Business Certification

While there are a limited number of federal grants for minorities for business needs, it does set aside a certain portion of federal contracts to disadvantaged businesses, including minority-owned businesses. If your business is eligible for federal contracts — for example, you have a construction business or manufacture goods that government agencies purchase — then it’s a good idea to get an 8(a) small disadvantaged business certification, as this status can help you get contracts.

An 8(a) small business is any business where the owner(s) is socially and economically disadvantaged. This includes any minority-owned small business where the owner is also economically disadvantaged; see the specific criteria on the Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program page.

You can apply for 8(a) status through the certify.SBA.gov website. If you are a woman, you can also apply for Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) status on that same website.

Note that there are various other organizations that offer minority-owned business certifications. Other MBE certifications from reputable organizations may still offer some benefits and could help you qualify for business financing in general. However, you will need certification from the SBA or another government agency (such as the EPA or DOT) to receive preference for federal contracts.