The Minority Entrepreneurship Institute: Closing The Gap Newsletter
Welcome to Closing The Gap, a monthly newsletter published by The Minority Entrepreneurship Institute (MEI)
Welcome to Closing The Gap, a monthly newsletter published by The Minority Entrepreneurship Institute (MEI).
MEI exists to close the economic and educational gap in minority communities through entrepreneurship. You’re receiving this email because you’ve opted through our website or events! And for that we thank you.
Each month, we’ll be sharing curated updates, events, and resources specifically for minority entrepreneurs and investors.
What Will You Get?
Access - We bring the same resources to you that we do our portfolio companies.
Education - Key insights from industry experts, operators, and founders.
Capital - Curated lists of investors, pitch competitions, and grants dedicated to supporting minority entrepreneurs.
Community - Subscribing to this newsletter isn’t just a notification in your inbox. It’s a gateway to connection with minority entrepreneurs across the US.
Before we share our impact strategy for 2021, here’s a quick look at all that happened for us in 2020:
2020 Texas Showcase
With over 150 companies applying to our Texas Showcase in July 2020, we deployed $600K to five phenomenal startups across the state of Texas. Here’s a video recap of our showcase.
2020 Inaugural Educational Summit
With over 300 virtual attendees, we hosted our inaugural MEI Summit in November 2020, with a suite of incredible speakers from Andreesen Horowitz, Collab Capital, the University of Notre Dame, and the Dallas Cowboys.
MEI’s Founder, Jaylon Smith, Nominated by the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award!
Considered the league's most prestigious honor, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.
Smith has pledged $2.5 million over 10 years to spur MEI investments and is adding co-investors across the country who share in his beliefs.
Movers and Shakers From Our Portfolio:
ShearShare, Kanarys, and Zirtue (Dallas, TX) Google for Startups Awards $300K to Four Dallas-Area Black Founders
DeliverEnd (Indianapolis, IN) Small Businesses Turn to DeliverEnd to Keep Pace with COVID-Related Logistics Challenges
AfrolandTV (Dallas, TX) This Couple Launched a Black-Centered Streaming Service to Bring Pan-African Stories to the Masses
Zirtue and Kanarys (Dallas, TX) North Texas Inno - Two DFW startups win $500K at Revolution's Rise of the Rest pitch competition
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: What’s Coming in 2021!
2019 laid our foundation.
2020 placed a spotlight on our platform.
2021 will activate our vision.
To kick off the new year, we’re launching our Community Platform, The Collective, for all those in our network - Interested? 👇
Here’s How You Can Get Involved (Use the sign-up link above)
Startup Mentor 👥
Our mentorship program is matched based on experience, stage, and fit.
Community Builder / Ecosystem Champion 💎
Ecosystem Champions are our boots on the ground advocates in their respective ecosystems, referring deals, and sharing events in their markets.
MEI Marketplace Investor 💰
Marketplace investors have first access to deals happening within their markets from our portfolio companies and companies within our deal pipeline.
MEI Venture Partner 🔎
Do you really want to dig in and help? You can become a venture partner with MEI for more ways to get plugged in, join our weekly deal flow calls, and help with diligence.
Deal Flow Roundtables
We’ll be activating our existing marketplaces through monthly Dealflow Roundtables for our portfolio and pipeline companies. Interested in getting involved and pitching your company?
These roundtables are meant to be a welcoming, friendly, and helpful space for founders to get useful, actionable feedback from investors, and for investors and community members to learn more about innovative ideas, projects, and companies, as well as to provide useful insights, thoughts, feedback, etc.
2021 MEI Florida Showcase
We’re taking our talents to the state of Florida! This July, we’ll be hosting our annual showcase and pitch competition in Tampa, Florida - Our application will go live in April, stay tuned for updates! 👀
We’re Growing! Introducing Our New Executive Director, Jarrod Barnes
Jarrod is opening up Office Hours for the month of January to any entrepreneur who is actively building a company or aspiring to build a company - feel free to book a time to chat!
Happenings across the ecosystem 📍
Looking to diversify your hiring pipeline and hire minority tech talent? Check out Diversify Tech’s talent pipeline on their online Talent Directory 👈
What We’re Reading 📚
Thank you for your support of the Minority Entrepreneurship Institute, we’re constantly working to improve and want to hear your feedback.
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