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 · Brand Strategy & Wellness
VIEW PROFILE →Tai Beauchamp
Creative executive, brand architect, media personality and entrepreneur. She connects business leadership, wellness, confidence, culture and purposeful brand building.
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 →01Venture Capital
Jewel Burks Solomon
Managing partner at Collab Capital, former Head of Google for Startups U.S. and founder of Partpic. She speaks and writes about venture capital, innovation and improving access to funding for Black founders.
02E-commerce
John Lawson
President and CEO of ColderIce Media, ecommerce professional, author, entrepreneur and international speaker. He teaches practical online-selling, social-commerce, marketing and small-business growth strategies.
03SaaS Entrepreneurship
Tope Awotona
Founder and CEO of Calendly and a software entrepreneur. He shares lessons about product-market fit, perseverance, global SaaS growth and building technology that removes friction from business workflows.
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
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HOUSTON, TEXAS · CONFIRMEDVIEW EVENT →WHY BLACK BIZ DAILY EXISTS
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