• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK WOMEN COME FIRST

Every day we're serving Black women deeply. Come get a plate of goodness! Sign up for daily content and exclusive offers you'll love!

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and that you have read our Privacy Policy
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Money & Career

Tighten Up! How To Make Your Company Attractive To Funders

Experts Melissa Bradley (Managing Partner, 1863 Ventures) and Olamide Olowe, (Co-Founder and CEO, Topicals) share all the tips and advice that will help you attract investors.
By Essence · Updated December 21, 2021

So you’ve started a business. And after pouring your blood, sweat and tears into building the company now it’s time to determine how to attract investors and secure funding to continue growing. 

But as much as we want to grow, and scale fast, have you ever thought about how you would fare if investors – like VCs, angel investors, and bankers – were to evaluate your company? Speaking at the “Bossed Up” edition of the 2021 ESSENCE + GU Entrepreneurs Summit, experts Melissa Bradley (Managing Partner, 1863 Ventures) and Olamide Olowe, (Co-Founder and CEO, Topicals) shared all the tips and advice that will help you attract investors and get funding for your startup business. 

As one of few Black women who have raised over $1 million in venture capital dollars at just 23-years-old, Olowe encourages entrepreneurs to think differently about building their business. “So many people think that you should be thinking about the initial stages, but I always tell people to think about the end. Where do you really want to go? What do you want this business to turn into? Do you want to keep it in the family forever? Would you be okay with parting ways with it? Do you want to be a serial entrepreneur and do different things?”

On her fundraising journey, Olowe shared, “When you’re young and Black people think you’re seen as something to be cautious about, something to be worried about. It’s always charitable, people think that they need to do you a favor… when I got into the mindset that I wasn’t a charity case and that it was an opportunity for these investors to be apart of a company that was going to be successful, my tone shifted when I would pitch to people. Get on board or get left.”

Recently, event sponsor Goldman Sachs One Million Black Womenshared plans for its new initiative: $10 billion in investment capital to help narrow opportunity gaps for Black women over the next 10 years. The initiative is named for and guided by the organization’s goal of impacting the lives of at least one million Black women by 2030.

Bradley who is on the advisory board for the initiative shared, “There is a panel of advisory board members, many Black women and Black men who come together on a regular basis to reflect and access the strategy, review where they want to make investments — particularly the $10 billion dollars investments — and we’ve already made some investments in some funds. And we talk strategically about how we continue to deploy this money.”

She added, “Sign up for newsletters of people who are running programs, look at the variety of aggregated newsletters — The New Voices does an amazing newsletter where they aggregate all the grant programs — and talk to other entrepreneurs. The beauty is that everyone is usually looking for money, and if we connect the dots, we’re all going to be better off.”

Watch the full session in the video above for more gems.

The ESSENCE + GU Entrepreneur Summit is presented by Coca-Cola® and sponsored by Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women.

TOPICS:  entrepreneur summit Entrepreneurship entrepreneursummit_1221
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now