Bank of America invests in Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund of New Jersey

Bank of America is now an investor in the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund of New Jersey, which came out of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School-Newark in 2020, the university announced March 4.

BOA came on as an investor in February. Less than 1% of all high growth technology startups are led by Black and Latino entrepreneurs, and few secure pre-seed capital for growth. The mission of the fund is to reverse this trend by institutionalizing the friends and family round of capital raising.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bank of America as an investor in the Black and Latino Investment Fund of New Jersey,” said D. Lyneir Richardson, executive director of CUEED and the founder of the BLAIF, in a prepared statement. “Bank of America’s ongoing efforts to address the persistent gap in access to growth capital for underrepresented founders align with our strategy of investing in exceptional Black and Latino entrepreneurs with exceptional business ideas ready for scale. We look forward to expanding our work.”

Fund managers help entrepreneurs by securing additional capital; providing real-time, situational mentorship; introducing prospective customers, suppliers and other growth resources; and stewarding additional capacity building with larger accelerators.

BOA’s investment in the fund aligns with its $1.25 billion pledge to support racial equality and economic opportunity by addressing issues in minority populations related to health, jobs, education, housing and capital inequality.

“Access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges for minority-owned businesses,” said Alberto Garofalo, president, Bank of America New Jersey. “Working together, we can create the conditions that enable new ideas to flourish, thereby ensuring that the opportunities we want for all of our citizens and the strong economy we want for our community are within our reach.”

The BLAIF accepts applications from entrepreneurs in New Jersey and New York, or from those with ties to the area, on a rolling basis.