As part of a groundbreaking initiative to raise billions of dollars of growth equity capital focused on ethnically diverse and women-owned business enterprises (DWBEs), the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) today announced it has published two related reports that quantify the robust demand for capital by these companies and the significant investment potential within this traditionally overlooked group.

• Access to Capital: Accelerating the Growth of Diverse- and Women-Owned Businesses, The Trillion Dollar Opportunity documents the volume of viable DWBEs that are well-positioned to receive growth equity and examines potential solutions to enable the scaling of these businesses. Further, the report quantifies the tremendous impact equal access to growth opportunities for these companies would have on the U.S. economy.
  
• The State of Growth Equity for Minority Business: A River of Capital Flowing Past our Communities analyzes the sweet spot in growth investing, diverse-owned middle-market businesses in the $10 million-$1 billion revenue range. While often thought of as a small niche, there are approximately 20,000 DWBEs in this growing segment that is a predominantly untapped source of investment opportunities.

Both reports, available on NAIC’s website (https://naicpe.com/initiatives/naic-growth-equity-funds-initiative/), were published as part of the NAIC Minority Growth Equity Funds Initiative (MGEFI). A critical effort to raise billions of dollars from Fortune 500 corporations, endowments, foundations and other institutional investors focused on scalable DWBEs, MGEFI fills a void left by current growth equity investing patterns and large consumer banks that have historically been reluctant to lend to these groups. Made possible through a grant from the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, MGEFI was launched in October 2019.

“It is important that we bring patient capital to diverse-owned businesses which will allow them to harness and realize their full potential, and now is the perfect time for it,” says Robert L. Greene, NAIC’s president and CEO. “While much of the research on accessing capital among DWBEs has focused mainly on debt and commercial borrowing, there is a robust need and opportunity for equity investments.”