Emerge Initiative
What is the Emerge Initiative?
The Emerge Initiative is designed to help level the playing field by supporting early-stage companies led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) founders. Non-dilutive grants are awarded to BIPOC-led companies who are at the concept stage. The BFM Fund works with various non-profits, including its flagship partner- Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, to create geographic and industry specific standards.
The BFM Fund team stands up the programming for these grant awards by creating, marketing, and soliciting applications from BIPOC entrepreneurs. They also recruit a selection committee filled with evaluators who are both culturally representative and equipped with industry-specific knowledge. Post-award, they partner with accelerators and funds, such as Venture For T.H.E.M., to ensure that companies are given access to mentorship, workshops, resources, and a roadmap for success.
The goal of the Emerge Awards is to provide funds, mentorship, and resources for concept-stage companies to finalize their prototypes and launch into the market. This gives them the ability to demonstrate customer traction and product-market fit before seeking equity investment.
“Systemic racism and the resulting lack of generational wealth has meant that many founders of color do not have access to ‘friends and family’ money to support the development of their startups at the earliest stages,” said Himalaya Rao, Managing Director, The BFM Fund. “It is vital to us to bring different and new funding sources to the table. This is our second year working with OEN to get money into the hands of food and beverage entrepreneurs at an earlier stage so they can get the traction they need to compete for other funding sources down the road.”
The Emerge HBCU Pitchfest launched at Morgan State earlier this year in partnership with Venture For T.H.E.M and the generous sponsorship from Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, Gener8tor, and the Milken Institute
Our Partnerships
Emerge Initiative Portfolio
masafresh: A farmers market delivery platform that aims to bring local and sustainable produce to customers, while supporting regenerative farmers.
Glü
Glü: An incentivized health platform that encourages healthy behaviors through fun characters and real-world health tracking.
1HubFashion is an online retail destination with undiscovered fashion brands and designers from all over the world.
Khalsa Salsa: An Indian Fusion Salsa brand that provides a bold and complex flavor experience, different from traditional salsas on the market.
Leslie’s Lumpia: A Filipino food brand offering plant-based and gluten-free lumpia that brings people together.
KÄMÄ's is a premium hard coffee beverage and lifestyle brand for people who want to boldly express life's punctuations and moments.
High Peak Medical: A company dedicated to eliminating false-positive blood cultures caused by sample contamination during blood collection.
Hibisbloom: A West African food and beverage company that aims to introduce unique African super-foods, drinks, and ingredients to the international market.
Skaut Coffee Roasters: A coffee roastery inspired by travels and adventures, on a mission to inspire others through their products.
Venture For T.H.E.M. Portfolio
Choose to be unbothered with HERide. Our platform is a female-friendly rideshare app committed to getting women from Point A to Point B. With over 20,000+ downloads total on our platform, HERide is proving to be an alternative option made for women by women
WaySlay is an on-demand delivery app for Black haircare and cosmetics, delivering beauty supplies in as little as 20 minutes. Essentially, we’re the UberEats for beauty supplies, delivering everything you can find at a beauty store - including braids, hair color, wigs, and many other products.
Gabb Global is a low-cost, immersive, VR-based platform that provides a gateway between the classroom and real-world language learning. Gabb Global’s immersive features support English Language Learning (ELL) students with language acquisition.
ChildNEXUS is a two-sided educational and mental health marketplace: on the one side are youth service providers and on the other side are parents seeking resources and services for their children who are experiencing learning or mental health challenges.
Endex is a broker agnostic social investment platform that enables the actionable sharing & monetization of investment content through custom indexes. We are building a social investment platform where retail investors can come to connect with others and build a community of like-minded investors, discover new stocks, holistic strategies and creators, perform due diligence, and trade in-app
Our Press
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The BFM Fund receives Equity Investment from Bank of America
Seed-stage Portland and Virginia-based Venture Fund Run by Women of Color Leadership Team
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The BFM Fund and OEN Annouce Oregon Emerge Initiative Awardees
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
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The BFM Fund and Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Announce Emerge Initiative Awardees
Portland Food + Drink
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Oregon Entrepreneurs Network and Black Founders Matter Announce Emerge Initiative Awardees & New Partnership
Portland Food and Drink.com
