The Black Upstart

Our mission is simple at The Black upStart, we increase the number of Black-owned businesses that have the capacity to employ others. We accomplish our mission in two ways, the Black upStart curriculum and the Black upStart Bootcamp. We use these tools to train aspiring African-American entrepreneurs to start successful and profitable businesses. The Black upStart curriculum and Bootcamp teaches entrepreneurs basic business principles, that are combined with experiential learning opportunities.

The Black upStart Bootcamp:
Each Bootcamp convenes a small cohort of competitively selected aspiring African-American entrepreneurs and innovators. Cohorts participate in a Bootcamp that assists them in (a) brainstorming a viable business idea, (b) validating their business idea, (c) building a minimum viable product and (d) testing that product with customers. Cohorts have unprecedented access to mentors, coaches and subject matter experts. Every aspiring entrepreneur leaves the Bootcamp with a business canvas, landing page and a minimum viable product.

The Black upStart Curriculum:
The Black upStart curriculum teaches participants how to start successful and profitable businesses. The creator of the curriculum has developed similar curricula to support undergraduate and graduate students learning entrepreneurship at 40 colleges and universities. Working collaboratively with PHDs across the nation, the Black upStart curriculum is for African-American entrepreneurs interested in exploring non-traditional methods to starting a scalable and profitable business.

​The Black upStart Events:
The Black upStart team hosts periodic events to showcase Black entrepreneurs who have completed our bootcamp.

We trained nearly 150 Black entrepreneurs​ since 2016, some of whom have received investments from venture capitalists, opened retail locations, won pitch competitions and have been featured in Black Enterprise, the Washington Post and ABC News.

The Black Upstart physically services the following areas: