Dreamit Ventures Expands Minority Program

Dreamit Ventures is expanding its minority outreach.

Image: Dreamit Ventures

Dreamit Ventures, the Philadelphia-based accelerator that holds programs for entrepreneurs in its hometown and in New York, is adding formal spots for five minority-led companies for its New York accelerator this Spring.

Dreamit had already started last year with a joint program including minority-led companies in its Philadelphia program, and last month became the first hybrid U.S.-Israeli accelerator by announcing it would seek out Israeli entrepreneurs to join companies in New York this year.

“For us, it’s all about finding great people with great ideas, and no one should be excluded from that,” William Crowder of Dreamit told Stephanie Baum of MedCity. “It really boils down to networks. Hopefully, programs like this can provide minority-led startups with resources to be as successful as everybody else.”

The Commerce Department, in a study last year, found that a series of barriers exist for minority-led businesses seeking capital of all kinds, including the potential $25,000 in equity financing Dreamit provides its participants.

The average equity investment in minority firms was 43 percent of that provided to companies led by nonminorities. In other words, venture capitalists, angel investors, and incubators in general bet less on minority-owned firms.

Last year, Dreamit partnered with Comcast in Philadelphia to introduce the Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator. Comcast helped fund the minority-led companies and provided mentoring beyond what Dreamit was doing. All told, five minority-led companies graduated from the joint Comcast-Dreamit program in the Fall.

The accelerator doesn’t have a cosponsor for the New York program, dubbed Dreamit Access. It runs from April to August. The deadline for applications is March 16 for companies and April 6 for individuals.