Nike is investing $500,000 into D.C.-based Black Girl Ventures, the corporation announced on Friday.

BGV was founded in 2016 by Shelly Bell as a multi-city event series that’s part pitch competition and part crowdfunding campaign for Black and brown women entrepreneurs. This funding comes as part of the $40 million, racial justice-minded NIKE, Inc. Black Community Commitment launched in June 2020 amid national protests against police brutality.

“Imagine launching a company from your living room in Southeast D.C., where 30 women threw money into a hat to fund Black women founders then becoming a nationally recognized organization,” Bell wrote in an email newsletter to the BGV community. “That was the beginning of Black Girl Ventures. We have reached 64 countries, over a million people, funded 120 women directly, raised over $3M, and our founders support $10M in jobs.

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