UBS Elevating Entrepreneurs
UBS Elevating Entrepreneurs is our signature entrepreneurship initiative to create a more inclusive landscape for underrepresented founders, especially women and entrepreneurs of color, to drive equitable economic opportunity and generational wealth building for entrepreneurs.
Our three core pillars:
- Educate and train underrepresented founders: provide skills and capacity building support to underrepresented founders to be investment ready and provide equitable pathways to capital
- Build & strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem: Increase the capacity of entrepreneur support organizations, build and diversify the community of investors nationwide, and connect founders to mentors and investors networks.
- Change the narrative on who gets funded: Increase visibility for underrepresented founders and fund managers, generate awareness for how to make capital more inclusive, and invest in research and knowledge to create a more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Our Partners and Programs
Project Entrepreneur
Program Overview
Project Entrepreneur, a flagship program by UBS, is on a mission to level the playing field for female founders by increasing their investment readiness, connecting them to the networks and resources they need to grow and scale their companies, and expand the ecosystem of support that advance women entrepreneurs.
Highlights
Since 2015, Project Entrepreneur has trained and supported more than 1,800 female founders with alumni going on to raise more than $60M in capital
Black Innovation Alliance
Partnership Overview
The Black Innovation Alliance (BIA) is an ecosystem building institution dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap through the direct support of Black-led innovator support organizations (ISOs) in service to Black entrepreneurs, tech founders and creative technologists. To date, BIA has 89 ISO members based in 33 cities which support 375,000 innovators of color.
Highlights
UBS most recently partnered with BIA as the signature partner of the Decade of Black Innovation. The aim of the initiative is to empower one million Black entrepreneurs and innovators, and drive $1 billion to the Black entrepreneurial ecosystem. UBS’s partnership will support the growth and development of BIA’s ISO members and help build the infrastructure of support needed for Black entrepreneurs to succeed.
Village Capital & Black Innovation Alliance
Partnership Overview
UBS is supporting Resource, a nationwide initiative developed by Village Capital and the Black Innovation Alliance to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystems that support underrepresented founders. Resource is a cohort-based training and network building program for leaders of Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) that are led by people of color and directly support entrepreneurs of color.
Highlights
Since 2021, UBS has supported 23 early-stage ESOs with education and resources to help them build more financially sustainable organizations and more effectively support entrepreneurs.
Venture for America
Partnership Overview
Venture for America (VFA) is a national nonprofit which gives recent college graduates firsthand startup experiences in emerging ecosystems across the U.S.
Highlights
UBS partnered with VFA to establish and accelerate their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to ensure that more women and people of color have the tools and training to become entrepreneurs. Through the Venture Catalyst Awards, UBS also provides funding for VFA Fellow-founded startups.
Hello Alice
Partnership Overview
Hello Alice is a free online platform that helps businesses launch and grow. With a community of more than 1,000,000 entrepreneurs across the U.S. and beyond, Hello Alice aims to build the largest network of business owners in the country while using A.I. and data trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs.
Highlights
In 2023, UBS launched its second Democratizing the Friends & Family Round program with Hello Alice to reduce barriers that female founders of color face when accessing capital. The program awards $25,000 grants and mentorship from UBS to 20 NYC-based female founders of color leading high-growth companies.
Recent Events & Media
Media
Good Morning America: Jamie Sears, Head of Community Affairs & Corporate Responsibility talked about why we need to get more capital to Black female founders and ways to make capital more inclusive. Watch both segments to learn more about the change makers who are building a more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem: Segment 1 & Segment 2
Events
The Network Effect: Sparking Meaningful Connections for Female Founders: A 3-day virtual event with New Power Media for 350+ female founders, funders and supporters to build their networks and learn from leading women entrepreneurs and investors.
Igniting Cultural Capital series: UBS partnered with CultureBanx, to launch Igniting Cultural Capital, a five-part video and Forbes series exploring the stories of Black entrepreneurs and investors harnessing the power of cultural capital – including episodes on FinTech, retail, EdTech, A.I., and ExperienceTech.
Social Innovation Summit: At the 2022 Social Innovation Summit, Pete Stavros, Founder & Chairman of Ownership Works and Co-Head of Americas Private Equity at KKR & Co. Inc, and Jennifer Gabrielli, Head of Ultra High Net Worth Client Solutions at UBS Wealth Management Americas, discussed the importance of building models of shared ownership so that employees have the opportunity to build wealth at work. Tune in here.
Contact Us
Joey Blumenfeld
Head of Programs, Community Impact, Americas
joey.blumenfeld@ubs.com
