Venture Noire is ready to activate KC with focus on improving outcomes for Black entrepreneurs

Venture Noire comes to Kansas City late this month with a two-day event to help early-stage entrepreneurs plan their next moves and reintroduce the Northwest Arkansas-based nonprofit to local business owners.  Planned for June 26-27 at Keystone CoLAB, the “KC’s Playbook for Entrepreneurial Excellence” event is expected to feature a boot camp with workshops on…

Read More

KC BizCare awarded $300K by Kauffman for small business census, new ESO accelerator

Entrepreneurial support organizations experience many of the same challenges faced by Kansas City’s small business community, stifling their effectiveness, Nia Richardson noted.  “This includes staffing and resource constraints, lack of business education and practical experience, and fragmented systems of support. Without addressing these structural and systemic constraints, enabling equitable and inclusive small business growth will…

Read More

Ulta, Venture Noire apply foundation with new beauty startup accelerator to ‘uplift minority founders’

Ulta Beauty’s premier MUSE Accelerator is nothing short of life changing, said Emma Willis.  The national beauty retailer has partnered with Venture Noire to launch a 10-week, hybrid accelerator that supports Black, Indeginous and underrepresented founders of color as they prepare to break into and thrive in the beauty retail space, explained Willis, who serves…

Read More

They want to create a SXSW-style festival in KC, but City of Entrepreneurs’ plans for Black founders dig even deeper

Activation is just the beginning for organizers of a new, high-profile partnership that aims to boost Black business owners — starting in Kansas City — via programming, resources, major events and a soon-to-be announced accelerator. Entrepreneurs, investors and local politicians gathered Wednesday to celebrate the soft launch of City of Entrepreneurs — a new initiative that…

Read More

In the Black: Why Venture Noire is bringing capital resources from Arkansas to KC’s founders of color

It’s time Black-led companies went from over-mentored and under-resourced to well-connected and infused with capital, Keenan Beasley said, announcing plans for establishing more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems that begin, in part, with a presence in Kansas City.  “Kansas City is a very mature market,” Beasley, founder of Venture Noire, said of what he’s observed among the…

Read More