{"id":179,"date":"2022-05-05T09:02:58","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T09:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/?p=179"},"modified":"2022-05-06T22:04:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T22:04:25","slug":"general-mills-invests-15-million-in-funds-for-minority-and-female-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/2022\/05\/05\/general-mills-invests-15-million-in-funds-for-minority-and-female-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"General Mills invests $15 million in funds for minority and female entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Investment arm, 301 INC, addresses founder gap through&nbsp;Fearless Fund and Supply Change Capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" loading=\"lazy\" data-id=\"280\" src=\"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/General-Mills-logo.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/General-Mills-logo.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/General-Mills-logo-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota &#8211;&nbsp;General Mills today announced its venture capital arm, 301 INC, will invest a combined $15 million into two early-stage venture capital funds, Fearless Fund and Supply Change Capital. These investments are part of General Mills\u2019 commitment to standing for good and promoting racial and gender equity in representation through economic opportunity for minority and female food entrepreneurs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>These two investments focus on supporting founders from underrepresented groups and will be designated for food-related businesses that seek to drive systemic impact and financial returns:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fearless.fund\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fearless Fund<\/a>, a fund built by women of color, invests in women-of-color-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed-level or series A financing, with a mission to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supplychangecapital.fund\/\" target=\"_blank\">Supply Change Capital<\/a>, a women and Latina powered venture firm, invests at the intersection of food, culture and technology. The firm catalyzes early stage food and food tech founders with a focus on sustainability, health and diversity.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe experience firsthand the expertise and passion of the diverse and female founders within our 301 INC portfolio, and yet there is a systemic gap for minority food entrepreneurs looking for early-stage venture capital funding,\u201d said Doug Martin, chief brand and disruptive growth officer, General Mills. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to join forces with these amazing partners to uncover and accelerate more founders, at earlier stages. Closing this gap means more great innovation in our food system \u2014 from new concepts to emerging food technologies \u2014 and more inclusive cycles of opportunity for entrepreneurs, companies and communities.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>301 INC and General Mills are committed to using their scale and expertise to improve equity in food access and representation. Since the reorganization of General Mills\u2019 corporate venture capabilities into a Disruptive Growth organization in June 2021, approximately 80 percent of 301 INC investment dollars have gone to minority-led or female-led food businesses, including Grub Market, Pet Plate and Everything Legendary.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAccess to capital is one of the most prominent hurdles to women of color reaching their potential as founders, despite having an excellent track record in building successful businesses built on great ideas,\u201d says Arian Simone, general partner and co-founder, Fearless Fund. \u201cWe are thrilled to grant General Mills investment dollars to women of color who are looking to cook up the next revolutionary culinary brand.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFood and food systems are at the heart of our culture and economy,\u201d says Noramay Cadena, co-founder and managing partner, Supply Change Capital. \u201cAs the multicultural consumer population in the U.S. grows, we are focused on unlocking change in the venture ecosystem to infuse women and people of color with the capital they need to shape our future food landscape. We\u2019re thrilled to have the support of General Mills in our network.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>General Mills\u2019 commitment to fostering job creation and economic development through supplier diversity&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>General Mills has been committed to establishing and growing relationships with certified diverse suppliers in the U.S. for more than 50 years. In 2021, the company launched a sponsorship program to fund and support diverse small businesses in attaining their Diverse Business Enterprise Certification.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about 301 INC, visit&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.301inc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.301inc.com<\/a>, and for more information on General Mills\u2019 racial equity commitments, visit&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.generalmills.com\/racialequity\" target=\"_blank\">www.generalmills.com\/racialequity<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Investment arm, 301 INC, addresses founder gap through&nbsp;Fearless Fund and Supply Change Capital. MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota &#8211;&nbsp;General Mills today announced its venture capital arm, 301 INC, will invest a combined $15 million into two early-stage venture capital funds, Fearless Fund and Supply Change Capital. These investments are part of General Mills\u2019 commitment to standing for good &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/2022\/05\/05\/general-mills-invests-15-million-in-funds-for-minority-and-female-entrepreneurs\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;General Mills invests $15 million in funds for minority and female entrepreneurs&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighborhoodmedia.org\/metrourbannews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}