What is BLADE Blueprint?
The BLADE (Black Liberation and the Digital Economy) Blueprint explores how Black entrepreneurs are creating wealth through digital businesses and,
to our knowledge, this is the first-ever research study that defines and maps
digital entrepreneurship.
The study surveys 893 Black digital entrepreneurs.
Key Findings
Black digital entrepreneurs within BIA’s extended network are exponentially outperforming their peers at securing venture capital.
Twenty-three percent of the Black digital entrepreneurs who responded to our survey secured venture funding. This is an astonishing feat in a landscape, where Black founders receive a miniscule 1% of total venture funding. More granular research is needed to clarify which factors are driving such high rates of securing-the-VC bag within BIA’s ecosystem
vs. outside of it.
Overall, Black digital businesses are more likely to be profitable.
Seventy-seven percent of our survey recipients own profitable businesses. This compares to 54% for small businesses owned by people of color and 66% for all small businesses, according to 2023 reports from Guidant Financial.
Black men’s digital startups reach profitability more frequently and more quickly.
They also are more likely to report a positive net worth, to have a spouse, and to earn higher levels of household income than their female peers.
Black women are more likely to self fund and less likely to have co-founders.
They are also less likely to participate in accelerator programs and pitch competitions than their male peers.
Digital business drives wealth creation.
Eighty-four percent of the entrepreneurs report having a positive net worth. This is most likely driven by the earnings from their digital business, given that the vast majority of them (73%) do not have a second stream of income or second job and are paying themselves (72%). Three-fourths of our respondents (74%) say that they live comfortably.
Black digital businesses are quite resilient.
Forty-five percent of American startups fail in the first five years. But most of our study participants have beaten those odds, with 56% of them running businesses that are five years or older.
The Black Innovation Alliance ecosystem is filled with very high-performing, Black entrepreneurs.
We sourced survey participants from BIA’s network of innovator support organizations (ISOs). So either high-performing entrepreneurs are finding their way into our extended network or our provider networks are attracting and fostering high-performing entrepreneurs…or both.
There is a huge generational divide among Black digital entrepreneurs.
A whopping 76% of our participants are Millennials and another 12% are Gen Z, suggesting that digital natives possess a competitive advantage in leveraging the web to drive wealth creation.
Our findings indicate that digital businesses are different, and Black, digital entrepreneurs are different. These startups are increasingly sophisticated, more likely to be profitable than brick-and-mortar or traditional, non-digital businesses, and more sustainable than previous research would suggest.
Going digital allows founders to leverage multiple skill sets and operate in multiple sectors simultaneously and profitably, something that is incredibly difficult to accomplish with physical businesses.
For example, a social media influencer could provide online coaching and sell branded merchandise online, seamlessly flexing her skills across three digital domains–content creator, e-commerce, and professional services–but all under one business or brand. Perhaps this flexibility is the secret sauce that explains why so many digital businesses founded by the Black entrepreneurs in our study were already profitable, had survived for more than five years, and the founder considered themselves to be not just financially stable, but in possession of a positive net worth.
In short, going digital consistently puts Black entrepreneurs on the road toward closing the wealth gap.
How do we define digital entrepreneurship?
Digital entrepreneurship refers to the establishment of a business through web-enabled tools, platforms, systems, and digital currencies, enabling entrepreneurs to sell products and services virtually.
How do we map digital entrepreneurship?
BIA identified eight domains of digital entrepreneurship, which were plotted along two axes: B2B vs. B2C and Niche vs. Market. Those domains are: Content Creation, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Developers, E-commerce, Gaming & E-sports, Professional Services, Publishing & Media, plus Education, Community Development & Activism.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the combined teams at Plexus and Black Innovation Alliance who labored over this report to deliver something truly meaningful and compelling.
This includes our research leads at Plexus, Sherrell Dorsey, Tayler James, and Julia Locklear, along with our project team at BIA, comprising Allegra Manigault, Jenna Scott, Kiara Lyle, India Fordham and Janessa Bailey, with special acknowledgement for Olivia Green who served in multiple roles across the life of the project. We’d also like to thank Lisa Osborne and Kelly Burton for copyediting, as well as the creative team at Studio J Lorne for the stunning design. Special shout-out to our member organizations at Black Innovation Alliance who helped promote the survey and attract respondents.
Black Innovation Alliance and Plexus would like to thank the Black entrepreneurs who shared their stories, experiences, and data with us. We see you, and we will continue to fight for you to get the support and spotlight that you deserve.
Finally, thank you to Walmart and the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity, whose financial commitment to this research will continue to fuel innovative programs and practices to address racial wealth gap.
*The research included in this report was made possible through funding by Walmart. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this report are those of the Black Innovation Alliance alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Walmart.
