Systemic investment disparities make it harder for Black businesses to get off the ground. A new route through grassroots crowdfunding is seeking to give everyday people a chance to help a local biz get going.

“When it comes to investment, most of the time people can go to friends and family and get large investment, but that’s not a reality for a lot of the minority founders, and so crowdfunding investment was a great fit for us because it allows us to tap into our networks and give people the autonomy and empower people to become investors for as little as $100,” said Lenora Felder at a Remington press conference held Thursday.

Felder and Michael Floyd founded Afterrhome, the Woodlawn-based company that recently won DC Startup Week’s pitch competition, showing one nontraditional route that has helped Black founders access capital. On Thursday, it launched a crowdfunding investment campaign on the platform WeFunder that has already raised 10 times the $1,000 prize from the pitch. Raising anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 will help Afterrhome as it builds a system that uses artificial intelligence to scan neighborhood property data for potential environmental hazards, its founders say. It will also allow for remote, livestreamed inspections, which Floyd said will help during the pandemic.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE