1871 helps Black entrepreneurs deliver on
ideas
The Chicago tech incubator promotes diversity while adjusting
its own business model to the pandemic.
By David Roeder@RoederDavid Feb
1, 2021, 5:30am CST
Jeff Osuji is a member of a steering committee
at 1871 that advocated for the BLK•Tech initiative. Provided
People involved in technology startups like to think of
themselves as disrupters. But what happens when the world itself, with a global
virus on the loose, disrupts them and their support systems?
They must adapt. Entrepreneurs have to find new ways to connect.
Chicago’s 1871, which is dedicated to helping them, has shifted on the fly to
replace connections made in its physical space at the Merchandise Mart with
digital programs. It’s doing it without losing focus on a mission of improving
venture capital’s sorry record of neglecting tech businesses founded by women,
Blacks or Latinos.
Betsy Ziegler, 1871’s CEO, said last year’s murder of George
Floyd and riots in many cities prompted soul-searching at the group’s highest
levels. There were discussions with Black business founders already active with
1871. One outcome of those talks gets started Tuesday.
It’s a 12-week program for Black-led startups called BLK•Tech.
With sponsorship from Verizon and the William Blair brokerage, BLK•Tech is
built around live digital sessions to help people mostly in the idea phase of
starting a business.
Ziegler said the goal is to develop the ideas and get people
ready for funding pitches. If the program leads somebody to abandon an idea,
that’s OK, too, she said, because participants still will build contacts and
gain knowledge. Sessions will include group meetings and one-on-one time with
entrepreneurs.
“We want people to feel like they’re moving their idea forward.
We also want them to have felt community with one another,” she said.
The pandemic made those connections harder and had some effect
on 1871’s revenues, but Ziegler said the 9-year-old organization is determined
to help underrepresented groups get more access to tech funding. Last year, it
launched programs for Latino and female entrepreneurs.
“We need new companies built now more than ever. They are the
fastest source of job growth,” Ziegler said.
Enrollment in BLK•Tech is limited, but 1871 said there were a
few spots open as of Friday. The cost to participate is a basic membership
level at 1871, $175 per month, which provides access to its ongoing resources.
Another BLK•Tech session is planned in September, said Alysha Aubrey Bursey,
1871’s affinities program manager.
“Within the city’s large African American population, there are
amazing ideas and a lot of talent and grit,” said Jeff Osuji, a partner in two
startups. “But they don’t get the opportunity to showcase that because of a
lack of funding.”
Osuji founded Eventnoire, which hosts events that promote Black
culture, and MD Newsline, an adviser to health care professionals for racial
and cultural issues. With real gatherings verboten, Osuji said he has shifted
to virtual affairs.
He said it’s been difficult for years to tackle disparities in
how venture capitalists fund startups. “Up until last year, it was a taboo
subject. Now conversations are being had on a larger spectrum,” Osuji said.
As a member of a steering committee at 1871, Osuji helped start
the BLK•Tech initiative. He’s also working on 1871’s first directory of its
Black founders, the people who have launched businesses. It’s due out within a
couple of weeks.
Ziegler said 20% of the business founders in 1871’s database are
African American. She knows the work in this area is just starting.
The Chicago-based think tank Black Tech Mecca has gathered data
about minority participation in the tech sector nationally. It reported in 2017
that Black people accounted for 7% of tech employees versus 14% throughout the
private workforce, and that only 2% of tech companies had a Black CEO.
Ziegler said 1871 is pressing for more inclusion in tech even
while tinkering with its own business model. She said overall membership has
held steady during the pandemic, but some users who rent space within the
incubator have given it up.
She expects that to rebound quickly when vaccines are common.
Unlike many nonprofits that have reduced payroll, Ziegler said 1871 has not had
to lay off anyone in its staff of 32.
The incubator space is open but usually occupied by only about
20 people on a given weekday, she said. Before the pandemic, it was a beehive
for coding, commiserating and dealmaking.
The silver lining is that digital meetings have made it easier
for some people to connect. “We were able to flip to virtual and keep it
moving,” Ziegler said. Nobody has to travel downtown, and 1871 programs have
drawn participation from people beyond Chicago.
Ziegler speculated that while employees will want more in-person
interaction, they won’t give up the convenience of digital events and working
from home. As for 1871, “We will be hybrid forevermore,” she said.