Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative

We are the only cooperative community by and for entrepreneurs of color. As such, we center the needs and challenges of entrepreneurs of color in the design of education and advising programs. This starts with focusing our programs on how we want to show up as entrepreneurs – leveraging our cultures, uplifting our communities, and being an environmental steward through creative and social entrepreneurship. From there, we cultivate trusted, long-term partnerships by providing creative and social entrepreneurs of color with pathways to work with us over their entire entrepreneurial journey of starting, planning, growing, funding, leading, and keeping their businesses in our communities. Our programs are:

• Bootcamps: Short courses to support freelancers, independent artists, and small business owners in getting their creative and social enterprises off the ground by understanding their market, defining their business model, testing their concept, developing their online presence, and making their first sales.
• Academy: A 15-month certificate program to support early-stage creative and social entrepreneurs in creating plans, developing operational capacities, implementing infrastructure, accessing capital, and developing leadership capabilities to build resilient businesses.
• Advising: Long-term one-on-one business advising to support more established creative and social entrepreneurs in growing and actualizing the legacy of their businesses. 
• Access to Capital: Through our partnership with RUNWAY, we provide creative and social entrepreneurs with capital readiness advising; access to friendly, restorative capital; and ongoing business support to grow their businesses.

Entrepreneurship is widely regarded as a means for wealth creation, but most entrepreneurs of color aren’t set up to build wealth this way. With median income of $70K+ in our communities and industry margins, an entrepreneur needs $250K+ in sales to pay the founder a livable wage. But according to SBA, 96% of Black entrepreneurs are sole proprietors earning average $22K / year.

There are many reasons why these businesses are not growing to the level that they need, but education and advising plays a major role in the success of our businesses. According to a McKinsey study, the decisions Black entrepreneurs make at the start of their business around how they pursue market opportunities in industries that have low barriers to entry and how they access or don’t access small business support are likely to keep their businesses small. And often, these decisions are influenced by structural bias that offer limited or no other alternatives. 

While there is a well-defined field of entrepreneurship support and funding that is intended to close this gap, much of the ecosystem does not truly address the challenges. Because entrepreneurship support organizations are often funded based on numbers of entrepreneurs, most offer short trainings and volunteer advising that fail to teach the basics of building a long-lasting, resilient business. Entrepreneurs of color are then encouraged to seek capital from funders using similar practices as banks that historically excluded us. Therefore, the field is perpetuating the racial wealth gap we are all trying to solve.

We are transforming how entrepreneurship support is provided - shifting the focus from short-term to long-term solutions. Through our programs, we cultivate long-term partnerships with creative and social entrepreneurs and provide in-depth support on:

• Understanding their market, testing their concept, and defining their business model; 
• Developing their business plan, pricing structure, and financial forecast;
• Using business performance data to improve marketing, sales, operations, and financial processes and systems;
• Learning how to tell the story of their business and its impact, and pitch their business in any setting;
• Understanding the importance of integrated capital and business support and applying for funding programs through our partners; 
• Preparing to hire and onboard workers; 
• Developing a business culture where all workers feel valued and encouraged to fully participate in the business; and
• Defining and actualizing the legacy of their businesses. 

We close the knowledge, funding, and community gaps for creative and social entrepreneurs of color through:

• Rigorous, culturally relevant curriculum and instruction that weaves technical skills and emotional capacities to build resilient, thriving businesses aligned with values.
• Wrap-around one-on-one business advising personalized to entrepreneur's specific growth plans and challenges.
• Access to friendly, restorative capital and continued business support in partnership with RUNWAY.
• Safe, supportive community of peers to share challenges, receive encouragement and feedback, connect with additional resources, and open up new market opportunities. 
• A cooperative model that inspires others to stay in integrity to their missions, tap into the collective spirit of our cultures, and build power through shared ownership and governance.

We support creative and social entrepreneurs of color in our current communities of Oakland and Boston and now have an opportunity to expand nationally. We work with a range of business size and stage:

• Bootcamps support the development of new freelancer, independent artist, and solo entrepreneur businesses
• Entrepreneur Academy supports improving resilience of of early-stage small businesses, cooperatives, and non-profits
• Advising supports growing small businesses and cooperatives that receive funding through our partners and legacy small businesses and cooperatives that are at risk of displacement in our communities

We take broad definition of creative and social entrepreneurship that goes across all industries where entrepreneurs of color are bringing in our cultural heritage, supporting economic justice, and focusing on environmental sustainability.

Since our founding, we have worked with 850+ people of color in gaining education, advising, and community to support their entrepreneurial journey. Approximately 80% of our population is Black and 90% are women. Collectively, the entrepreneurs of color who have started and grown their businesses with us have raised $7MM+ in funding and created 700+ jobs in our communities.

During the pandemic, we increased our support for entrepreneurs of color to stabilize finances, access relief funds, pivot business models, and reimagine what is possible. While the Federal Reserve reported 41% of Black businesses shut down, around 90% of Uptima’s entrepreneurs remained in business at the end of 2021.

We have an opportunity to expand our impact on a national scale in partnership with RUNWAY, a financial innovation firm committed to dismantling systemic barriers and reimagining financial policies and practices–all in the name of Black liberation.

Since 2016, we have been partnering with RUNWAY to co-design, launch, and implement pilots of the Friends & Family Loan Program for Black entrepreneurs in Oakland and Boston. Our entrepreneurs are a major pipeline into these funds, and these funds are critical in providing our entrepreneurs with the friendly, restorative capital and long-term business advising to support their growth.

Through these pilots, we learned there is a need for our RUNWAY+Uptima partnership on a national scale. As result, we are expanding our partnership and have been invited to launch our joint programs in two more locations through 2024, including one location within Truist Foundation's region.

Our mission is to provide holistic and culturally relevant education, advising, and community to support diverse entrepreneurs in creating thriving businesses in service to their communities. Through our education and advising programs, we support creative and social entrepreneurs of color throughout the entire journey of starting, planning, growing, funding, leading, and keeping their businesses in our communities.

As we continue to move through new waves of the pandemic, we have noticed a narrative around recovery. Recovery seems to be a false narrative as COVID, broken supply chains, and inflation continue to devastate businesses owned by people of color and our communities. At the same time, it has spurred many entrepreneurs of color to establish businesses and manifest self-determination.

We believe the calling is to reimagine new systems that generate holistic economies for everyone, including communities of color. We are moving in a different way around the pandemic and are reimagining what entrepreneurship, self-determination, interdependence, and new business ecosystems can look like.

Business support is economic infrastructure that requires centering the experiences and needs of entrepreneurs of color and shifting the way education, advising, funding, and other resources flow to and support us in developing resilient, thriving businesses in service to our communities. We are a model for how other organizations can develop entrepreneurship programs that truly serve entrepreneurs of color in building resilient, thriving enterprises. We hope that over time other organizations will realize their short, one-off business assistance programs are not really preparing entrepreneurs of color for the realities of growing a business. In addition, we hope that other organizations will begin to shift their program delivery to incorporate our best practices of outreach, engagement, curriculum, advising, peer support, and work with lenders. We believe that with a broader shift in the delivery of business support and microlending, the promise of entrepreneurship as a means for wealth creation for communities of color can become more of a reality.

With our two current locations of Oakland and Boston, this year we expect to serve up to 200 individuals who are looking to start and grow their businesses. 

Through our partnership with RUNWAY, we are growing on a national scale and plan to add one additional location per year over the next five years. And five years from now, we expect to serve over 1,000 entrepreneurs annually.

We provide business support to entrepreneurs of color. This has a ripple effect throughout our communities. Entrepreneurs of color are more likely to partner with other businesses and/or hire people from the same backgrounds. And as these businesses collectively grow and create jobs, they are supporting multigenerational families in our communities.

We are the first and only cooperative community for and by entrepreneurs of color. As a cooperative, entrepreneurs and workers can become member-owners of our organization. This means that members are part of a community that invests in each other, shares in our organization’s profits, and has a say in how our organization is run.

Our members come from communities of color and low to moderate income backgrounds. We are personally connected with communities we serve and have shared experiences in starting and growing businesses as entrepreneurs of color with limited access to financial and other resources. 

We regularly engage our members in strategy, program design, and operations. Through this engagement, we have been able to quickly respond to the severe impacts of the pandemic on entrepreneurs of color in our communities, focus our programs on long-term support, and identify the need to partner with RUNWAY on developing funding opportunities for our entrepreneurs.

We have remained grassroots since our founding. In communities of color, word of mouth is the most effective outreach. As such, most entrepreneurs are referred to us by entrepreneurs who have experienced our programs. We also receive referrals from our partners, like RUNWAY, as well as community organizations.

We build trust through cultivating long-term relationships with the entrepreneurs of color in our programs. Many of the entrepreneurs who started in our first cohort in 2014 still work with us as they trust our advice and guidance over other support providers. As such, we continue to evolve our offerings to meet the needs of our Uptima community. 

We are positioning ourselves for continued growth in our current locations of the Oakland and Boston as well as national expansion in partnership with RUNWAY. We need to have the right staffing, systems, and earned income strategies in place for a sustainable model for growth. Our goals over the next few years include:

Deepening Our Collaboration with RUNWAY: Since 2016, we have been partnering with RUNWAY to co-design and implementing pilots of the Friends & Family Loan Program for Black entrepreneurs in Oakland and Boston. We learned there is a need for our RUNWAY+Uptima partnership on a national scale. And, we are expanding our partnership and have been invited to launch in two more locations through 2024.

Gain Higher Education Accreditation. We plan to gain higher education accreditation for our entrepreneurship education programs, which will allow us to use government educational reimbursement programs to reduce and/or defer the cost of our programs. This ensures the affordability for entrepreneurs of color and providing us with a more stable funding stream. We have started this process and expect to achieve this goal by 2026.

Maintain Financial Accessibility for Entrepreneurs of Color. We remain committed to ensuring the financial accessibility of our programs for entrepreneurs of color during this time of economic uncertainty. Until we receive access to educational reimbursements, we will continue to subsidize the cost of our programs to entrepreneurs of color. As a result, we are focused on closing the funding gap of $3.5MM through 2025.

Rani Langer-Croager, Founder & CEO, has a long history with entrepreneurship. She saw her mother take on entrepreneurial activities and use cooperative economics to improve their family’s financial position. As a young adult, she took on entrepreneurial activities to help pay for college. However, she was never encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship as an option due to its financial risks. After a more stable career in investment banking and in higher education, she followed her passion and founded Uptima.

Sherina McKinley, Boston Director, is fueled by her desire to see entrepreneurs’ wildest dreams come true. Over the last decade, she has supported and loved on Black and Brown entrepreneurs throughout the City of Boston. No matter where she worked, her office is always the sanctuary where entrepreneurs can unload the stresses of life, get recharged, and shift their focus. Prior to joining Uptima, she was Entrepreneurship Director at Commonwealth Kitchen.

Cairo Person, Bay Area Director, is also a business owner. She co-founded We Re-Member, a program that educates about the African Diaspora and the residual effects of chattel slavery. She and her co-founder came up with their idea as teenagers and are now seeing the rewards of it coming to fruition. Cairo knows first-hand how isolating and difficult starting a business can be. She finds it necessary to share what she’s learned along the way in growing her business with other entrepreneurs and help them establish connections and resources so we can all prosper.

We are applying to the Truist Foundation to support our national expansion. Partnering with the Truist Foundation will support us in cultivating relationships in a region where we have a planned expansion opportunity. 

Workforce Development
Philanthropy

Our partnership goals are focused on

• Ensuring we are providing our entrepreneurs with access to all the support they need to build long-lasting, resilient businesses.
• Ensuring that our programs are financial accessible to entrepreneurs of color while still being financially sustainable for our workers.
• Telling the stories of our entrepreneurs and the work we do with them to create a more restorative economy.

With the Great Resignation and rethinking of work, workforce development partnerships are our biggest need to support our entrepreneurs in growing their businesses. We are passionate about supporting our entrepreneurs in building businesses that provide good work, fair wages, and benefits, democratize the workplace, and share opportunities for worker ownership. We believe the learning from and collaborating with organizations who are providing worker supports and are advocating for workers’ rights in communities of color will strengthen our business support for entrepreneurs of color who are looking for ways to intentionally build out their workforce and worker supports.