Funding for black and Hispanic tech companies increased in Miami, Florida and Georgia this year, following an influx of investors fleeing California and efforts by some venture capitalists to target minority founders in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
The tech sector has long been criticized for overlooking black and Latino founders, and the upgrade was greeted with some caution , WHBL reported .
The rise of telecommuting during the pandemic prompted several Silicon Valley venture capitalists to flee California, with its wildfires and high taxes. Miami, with a large Latino population, and Atlanta, with a large black population, have seen increased interest.
Florida and Georgia were the only states with a significant flow of settlements that showed an increase in the number of settlements for Black and Latino companies.
The number of such operations increased from 35 to 41 in Florida, and from 21 to 23 in Georgia. Operations with minority founders in Florida accounted for 4.5% of the total $ 6.9 billion in funding, down from 2.5% in the prior five years.
Founder minority operations in Georgia accounted for 13.7% of the $ 3.2 billion in funding, down from 5.3% in the prior five years.
“If you’re a founder of color in Miami, it’s probably easier to sit down at the table with someone who can write a decent-sized check than in San Francisco,” said Shu Nyatta, managing partner at SoftBank Group International.
