Arthur Woods

🔥 Access to venture capital remains tough, with only 2% of women and low percentages of Latino and Black founders securing funding. But speed pitching is redefining the game by levelling the playing field and speeding up access to investors. Speed pitching events condense key startup pitches into minutes, allowing diverse founders to showcase traction and value upfront in front of focused, niche investors. This approach cuts through traditional barriers, creating opportunities for underrepresented founders to raise capital despite tighter VC markets and longer funding cycles. 📖 Full story from Victoria Yampolsky of The Startup Station: https://lnkd.in/erHbPNuJ #VC #SpeedPitching #DiversityInTech #Funding2025 #StartupSuccess #Inclusion #Innovation #TechFunding

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What kind of founders join the Praxis Accelerator? We’re looking for founders who are building redemptive ventures—and want to do it in community. Praxis Fellows are typically: + Serious Christians + Humble and ambitious + Working full-time on their venture + Seeking accountable, values-aligned community These founders are leading ventures that are: + Early-stage, but gaining traction + Innovative in model or mission + Built for scale + Aimed at addressing major issues of our time Know a founder building in this way?  Nominate a Fellow for our 2026 US Business or Nonprofit Accelerator—or consider applying when applications open on July 14th. Let’s build together. Nominate a Fellow: https://lnkd.in/e3DcnRZW Learn more about our Accelerators: https://lnkd.in/eyqpX8yq

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Just 1.2% of the record $137 billion invested in US startups in the first half of 2021 went to Black entrepreneurs, and only 2% went to women-founded companies, according to a blog post from Crunchbase. If you aren't familiar with the challenges...

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Robin Hood Blue Ridge Labs accelerator in Brooklyn and $100k investment for early-stage social impact founders improving economic mobility through housing, education, future of work, health, financial services, or other focus areas with MVP and some traction

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Here’s what gets lost in the noise about entrepreneurship: Going it alone is a myth: especially for Black and Brown founders facing unparalleled challenges in 2025. Wealth gaps, systemic biases, funding obstacles: they’re real. But so is the power of community-led entrepreneurship to punch above its weight. Community isn’t just a support network. It’s a business accelerator. At CMET, we’ve seen that Black- and Brown-owned businesses thrive when rooted in peer connection, trusted networks, and shared resources. Growth doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s driven by: - Real-time collaboration: solving not just business problems, but life challenges with people who understand your WHY. - Knowledge transfer: learning the shortcuts, negotiating power, and tested playbooks others have already proven inside our cohorts. - Access to relationships: mentors, investors, strategic partners who are invested not only in your numbers, but in your long-term impact. We’ve witnessed it: Entrepreneurs in our workshops didn’t just gain skills; they raised capital, hired locally, launched joint ventures, and built legacies. Not despite their community, but because of it. 2025 isn’t about the lone founder( It)

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More founders are realizing that scaling doesn't have to mean sacrificing ownership. The environment is changing: equity deals are slower and more selective. Using performance-aligned finance that flows with the rhythm of operations, a disciplined strategy is emerging in place of protracted fundraising cycles. It's all about utilizing adaptable tools to help you grow quickly while also protecting your equity for the future. #Qverse #YourTrulyGrowthPartner

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What if the biggest constraint on entrepreneurship isn’t talent—but access? In a recent episode of Mala's podcast, she sat down with Allen Taylor, Managing Director at Endeavor, to talk about how world-class companies are built far beyond Silicon Valley. Allen has spent decades helping scale founders across emerging markets—Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia—by focusing on one powerful idea: talent is evenly distributed, opportunity is not. They talk about: • Why peer networks matter more than mentors • How Endeavor identifies the top 1% of scale-up founders • What makes founders resilient through volatility • Why long-term thinking compounds impact • How entrepreneurship can reshape entire economies This is a grounded conversation for founders, investors, and leaders who care about building companies that create real, lasting impact—globally. 🎧 Watch the full episode. Link in comments. Curious what resonated most for you.

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