$1.5M partnership provides funding for Central Indiana tech and direct-to-consumer businesses founded by Black entrepreneurs
INDIANAPOLIS, April 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Be Nimble Foundation, a 501(c)(3) social enterprise creating fully diverse and inclusive tech ecosystems, has launched the Nile Capital Fund in collaboration with Cummins Inc., the City of Indianapolis and IMPACT Central Indiana. This new fund provides revenue-based equity loans and traditional equity investments for Black founders.
“The Nile is the longest river in the world. It’s a lifeline for Egypt, fueling the economy and diverse ecosystem in northeastern Africa. It also reflects our vision for Be Nimble and how we serve our community,” said Jeff Williams, co-founder of Be Nimble. “This fund will serve as a mode of transportation for our existing programs and partnerships, just as the Nile enables communities to flourish. We’re feeding the ecosystem and supporting the entrepreneurs we’re committed to seeing succeed.”
The fund will provide additional growth and scaling capital for Black women-led beauty, health and wellness companies through Be Nimble’s #AddToCart entrepreneurship program. The Nile Capital Fund will also allocate funds to companies that have participated in Be Nimble’s other entrepreneurship programs. Anticipated outcomes of this program include increasing headcount and tech stack capacity, assisting with supply chain and logistics, and getting each business ready for potential venture capital and retail opportunities.
“Working with Be Nimble, the City of Indianapolis and IMPACT Central Indiana in managing the Nile Capital Fund enables Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) to leverage its focus area of Economic Empowerment to create more inclusive communities,” said Latonya Sisco, Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity Executive Director. “By joining forces, we aim to create a more equitable landscape for business ownership and growth and support the talented Black founders in our community who may not otherwise have access to the resources they need.”
“The City is proud to have contributed over $725,000 to the launch of the Nile Capital Fund,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “This partnership adds to our many efforts to continue to foster Black entrepreneurship.”
The initial funding recipients from the Nile Capital Fund include #AddToCart companies Rose of Sharon Naturals, Skin I’m In, D’Vine Beauty Bar, The Botanical Bar and FBN Skin. Each of these founders was selected from over 200 applications and awarded $5K seed grants to help scale their businesses and secure additional capital funding. They will continue the legacy — begun by Madame C.J. Walker — of Black women-led beauty brands in Central Indiana. Be Nimble will contribute additional investments into Exhale App, founded by Katara McCarty, and Popcom, a digital e-commerce company bringing a tech alternative to brick-and-mortar businesses. Popcom recently relocated its headquarters to Indiana and will work closely with #AddToCart participants.
“Society has ignored the health and wellbeing of Black women for too long, which is exactly why I am unapologetic in my pursuit to create space specifically for Black women navigating everyday stressors and the effects of systemic racism,” said Katara McCarty, founder of Exhale, an emotional wellbeing app designed for Black Women and Women of Color. “It’s more than an app — it’s a movement. Be Nimble is leading that movement with this fund. The Nile Capital grant will allow me to launch the much-awaited 2.0 version of my app.”
To learn more about Be Nimble, please visit BeNimbleCo.com.
About Be Nimble Foundation
Be Nimble Foundation is a 501(c)(3) social enterprise taking a qualitative and quantitative approach to creating fully diverse and inclusive tech ecosystems. Our career training and placement programs up-skill unemployed, under-employed, and career-transitioners who are interested in careers in the tech industry. Our entrepreneurship programs support Black and Latinx tech start-up founders to get them the resources, support and funding they need to build high-growth, high-scale tech companies. To learn more about the Be Nimble Foundation, visit benimbleco.com.
About Cummins Inc.
Cummins Inc., a global power technology leader, is a corporation of complementary business segments that design, manufacture, distribute and service a broad portfolio of power solutions. The company’s products range from internal combustion, electric and hybrid integrated power solutions to components including filtration, aftertreatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, electric power generation systems, microgrid controls, batteries, electrolyzers and fuel cell products. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (U.S.), since its founding in 1919, Cummins employs approximately 73,600 people committed to powering a more prosperous world through three global corporate responsibility priorities critical to healthy communities: education, environment and equality of opportunity. Cummins serves its customers online, through a network of company-owned and independent distributor locations, and through thousands of dealer locations worldwide and earned about $2.2 billion on sales of $28.1 billion in 2022. Learn more at cummins.com.
About IMPACT Central Indiana
IMPACT Central Indiana is a multi-member LLC created by Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), The Indianapolis Foundation and Hamilton County Community Foundation. Its goal is to facilitate social impact investments into businesses, funds, entrepreneurs and not-for-profit organizations that generate positive and measurable social impact in the community. More information at IMPACTCentralIndiana.org.
Contacts
Grace Williams
BLASTmedia for Be Nimble Co.
[email protected]
SOURCE Be Nimble
