The Surdna Foundation has announced a $1 million investment in Blk Grvty’s Equipped initiative, which will provide low-cost working capital loans and grants to bolster co-investment obligations for fund managers.

According to a 2021 report (30 pages, PDF) from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Black, Asian, and Latinx people and white women manage just 1.4 percent of the more than $82 trillion in U.S. assets under management, and persistent disinvestment in these groups results in trillions of dollars in lost GDP to the U.S. economy. For its part, Blk Grvty aims to raise and invest a total of $25 million.

“The flow of capital does not match the diversity of our country and its needs,” said Blk Grvty CEO and co-founder JaNay Queen Nazaire. “Our Equipped initiative seeks to support diverse fund managers to maximize their ownership stake, save time getting to “first close,” and raise larger funds, ultimately unlocking trillions of dollars of wealth in our economy.”

Last month, Blk Grvty announced a $100,000 grant to Collide Capital, one of the largest Black-owned first-time funds to catalyze growth ahead of Collide’s next round of fundraising. A similar grant was made to Cake Ventures last June.

“Right now, our investment ecosystem is failing our economy,” said Surdna Foundation vice president of programs Patrice R. Green. “We have so much untapped potential. Blk Grvty’s work to support diverse fund managers will help to break down the barriers for fund managers like Collide and Cake Ventures to access the capital flows they need.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/FG Trade)