Pharrell Williams and Felecia Hatcher Discuss Year Two Of Black Ambition Entrepreneurship Prize

essence.com:

“Who are you uninterrupted? And what would the world look like if nothing ever stood in the way of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs building their companies and actualizing their dreams?“This is the question at the core of Black Ambition, a set of prizes established to fund bold ideas and companies led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.Founded by Pharrell Williams in 2020 and led by CEO Felecia Hatcher, Black Ambition empowers Black and Latinx innovators and communities to excel uninterrupted by connecting them with the capital they need to take their ideas to the next level.

And applications for its second annual prize competition are now open as of today, Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at BlackAmbitionPrize.com.

As Willams and Hatcher explained to ESSENCE, funding is key for all businesses, but often a near-impossible hurdle to jump for entrepreneurs from our communities. “I don’t know if you can be an entrepreneur without capital, right?” Hatcher said while talking about the foundation’s mission. “And the unfortunate reality is for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, it’s not only difficult, but oftentimes it’s intentionally made difficult.

We wanted to take those barriers out of the way as much as we possibly can so that these brilliant people just have the freedom to be able to build their companies.”Ventures in consumer products and services, media and entertainment, healthcare, technology and Web 3.0 are eligible to win up to $1M.