Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Studies have found that incubators, accelerators, and other similar models are effective at increasing revenues, the number of employees, and the likelihood that the business venture will be successful for participants. (2) According to the 2023 Report on Startup Firms Owned by People of Color: Findings from the 2022 Small Business Credit Survey— (A) startups owned by racial minorities are more than twice as likely to be denied for financing from lenders than non-minority-owned startups; and (B) mission-oriented financial institutions and community-based lenders, including minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions, are critical in helping minority-owned businesses access capital. (3) According to the Kauffman Foundation— (A) minority-owned and women-owned businesses are half as likely to have workers than non-minority-owned and men-owned businesses; and (B) if minorities started businesses at the same rate as non-minorities, approximately 9,500,000 jobs would be added to the economy of the United States. (4) According to the Center for Rural Innovation— (A) less than 1 percent of all venture capital funding goes to businesses located in rural areas; (B) rural entrepreneurship rates have fallen from 20 percent in the 1980s to just more than 12 percent in the 2010s; and (C) financial barriers in rural areas are especially prominent for minority populations. (5) According to PitchBook, only 2 percent of all venture capital funding goes to businesses with women founders. (6) According to Crunchbase, less than 3 percent of all venture capital funding goes to businesses with Black and Hispanic founders.