2021 has seen a significant increase in venture investment in Black startups by nearly every metric according to a report recently published by Crunchbase. Even with this progress, Black startups still only make up 1.2% of the total $147 billion in venture funding in the U.S. despite constituting over 13% of the total population.

Successful startups offer the opportunity for transformational change for founders. Indeed, this year saw the first venture-backed startup with a Black founder and CEO--Compass ($COMP)-- hit public markets in the U.S. With an exit like Compass comes the opportunity for others to do the same.  

To be sure, there has been notable improvement in funding to Black founders, but there is still a long way to go before we reach a state remotely resembling equity.