Grants, prizes and pitch competitions can help founders access capital, but the rules may include scoring criteria, publicity terms, confidentiality limits, legal waivers or financing structures that deserve close review.
CAPITAL · TODAY
TODAY'S BBD500 SPOTLIGHT · Wealth & Sales Leadership
VIEW PROFILE →Cynthia Barnes
Founder of Black Women’s Wealth Lab and a sales and leadership educator. She helps accomplished professionals connect income, investing, confidence and long-term wealth strategy.
MORE FROM THE BBD500More people
More people
to know.
The BBD500 is Black Biz Daily's curated stage for Black founders, executives, investors, educators, authors, consultants, creators and business authorities whose work deserves to be seen. It is not a popularity ranking; it recognizes useful authority, demonstrated impact and sustained contribution.
EXPLORE THE BBD500 →01Wealth Management
Malik S. Lee
Certified financial planner and founder and managing principal of Felton and Peel Wealth Management. He shares expertise in planning, investing and philanthropy.
02Career Leadership
Kimberly B. Cummings
Founder of Manifest Yourself, career and leadership expert, speaker and author. She teaches professionals how to navigate advancement, build strategic relationships and lead with greater influence.
03Entrepreneurship
Melissa Butler
Founder and CEO of The Lip Bar, investor and speaker. She teaches through the experience of building an inclusive beauty company from a kitchen experiment into an eight-figure national retail brand.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHINGThe questions
The questions
shaping what
comes next.
The Brief tells you what matters now. This desk follows the deeper business shifts our newsroom believes deserve sustained attention.
THE CALENDARFOR FOUNDERS · STARTUPS · ENTREPRENEURS
Where our community meets next.
Discover conferences, summits and gatherings worth knowing. Dates and details are verified against official organizer information before publication.
BLACK ENTERPRISE XCEL Summit for Men 2026
ORLANDO, FLORIDA · CONFIRMEDVIEW EVENT →NMSDC Annual Conference & Exchange 2026
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA · CONFIRMEDVIEW EVENT →AFROTECH Conference 2026
HOUSTON, TEXAS · CONFIRMEDVIEW EVENT →WHY BLACK BIZ DAILY EXISTS
Business coverage through our lens.
Black Biz Daily exists to document, explain and celebrate the companies, founders, executives, investors, authors and thinkers shaping our economic future.
We cover the business stories that matter to our community with seriousness, curiosity and consistency every day.
OUR VISION & PUBLISHER →