Celebrating UK Black-owned businesses in 2022

Celebrating a diverse workforce

According to The Black Report, the first qualitative report on Black startup founders in the UK, as of 2020, Black-owned businesses, on average, created 5.4 more job roles for every startup that successfully launched. 

Having a representative team is vital when it comes to creating innovative products and services specifically designed to enhance or disrupt established sectors, such as tech, cosmetics, and even the food industry.

Diversity paves the way for more perspectives to be heard. 50% of the report’s respondents identify as female, 5% identify themselves as having a disability, and 9% identify as LGBTQIA+.

Creating an inclusive environment is one of the critical components of running a successful business. The report also reveals that 69% of the founders who took part pursued a career in tech and startups with non-STEM degrees, indicating that businesses can be successful without traditional degrees behind them.

UK Black Business Show 2022

Are you attending the UK Black Business Show on Saturday 22 October? 

This annual event held at the Business Design Centre in London shines a light on the contributions and successes that Black businesses have on the economy. Attendees gain access to workshops, networking opportunities and the latest insights and advice from some of the country’s leading Black business owners.

20 speakers will be in attendance, including Cecil Peters MSc, EMEA Head of Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Advancing Black Pathways at JP Morgan Chase & Co.; Deborah Okenla, entrepreneur, advisor, consultant, and investor; andLorraine Wright MBE, entrepreneur and digital Project Manager across consulting and financial services.

The UK Black Business Show is a part of UK Black Business Week, which is taking place from 17 to 22 October 2022. Various events will be held across the week, including a new Black Tech Careers Fair for career seekers aged 16+. As well as recent grads, the careers fair is open to anyone who would like to upskill for the workplace.

40 Black-owned businesses to watch in 2023 

In 2021, Google for Startups launched a fund to help tackle racial inequality in venture capital funding. In 2021, the Black Founders Fund invested £1.5m into 30 Black-led startups in Europe. In 2022, the fund doubled to £3m, with 40 UK black-led businesses receiving a share of cash, including the following startups:

Base Plus  - A skincare brand that pairs ‘the purity and wisdom of nature, with the precision and rigour of science.’

Bloomful - A platform that provides users with ‘personalised, virtual, on-demand care for their gynaecological health’. 

Boxx - A fitness brand on a mission to ‘make boxing accessible to everyone’.

compare ethics - A platform that ‘connects conscious shoppers with brands leading by example’.

Deep Meta - A solution that optimises steel production ‘by harnessing their data to create digital versions of potential defects’.

 Devo - A platform that ‘integrates all of your online platforms and wholesalers, saving you long hours and labour’.

 Eccobell - Contactless technology that enables ‘anyone, anywhere to communicate and grant access to guests at just a tap’.

FoodLama - A browser extension people can use to ‘easily discover the foods that suit their preferences, get recommendations, and explore with freedom’.

Framework - ‘The world's first on-demand business school’.

GigBridge - A construction industry recruitment platform that uses ‘smart technology to connect construction contractors with the right skilled workers’.

For the full list of startups, check out Black Founders Fund. 

Top 5 types of businesses run by Black entrepreneurs 

According to The Black Report, the top 5 types of Black-owned businesses are: 

• 18.3% eCommerce and retail

• 18.3% services 

• 16.67% technology

• 8.3% data

• 6.67% publishing and software

Having diversity and entrepreneurialism within all sectors of the economy is just what the business landscape in the UK needs. Still, it can prove more challenging to get a business off the ground without financial backing.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for businesses in the UK is a lack of financial support. The report states that only 23.3% of Black founders received grant funding for their early-stage startup, while 88% of the founders self-funded part of their ventures.

Are you looking for funding?

Having to self-fund a business shouldn't have to hold back a great idea, so if you're confident your business can go the distance, it can be worth doing some research into the grants, loans or other funding options you might be entitled to. 

If you're looking to start your business journey and want to find out if you're eligible for a business loan, start your journey with us today.