Black-owned business with 50 employees can apply for FB grant

San Francisco, Aug 20 (IANS) Facebook has announced that any majority Black-owned business with 50 or fewer employees can apply for the new grant in the US.

Earlier this summer, the social network committed an additional $100 million investment to support Black-owned businesses, creators and nonprofits in the US.

“Of that, we’re allocating $40 million in grants to support 10,000 Black-owned businesses in the US,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Facebook.

Facebook said it is partnering with Accenture and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) to get these grants to Black-owned businesses quickly.

In March, Facebook launched a $100 million global grant programme to help businesses and earmarked 50 per cent of the grants in the US ($20 million) for minority, women and veteran-owned businesses.

“Black-owned businesses have faced systemic barriers for generations – and the huge amount of interest we received from these businesses confirmed just how enormous the challenges they continue to face really are,” Sandberg said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company opened grant applications for Black creators a few weeks ago – dedicating $25 million to support the next generation of Black voices on Facebook and Instagram in the US.

The programme will provide them with access to funding, education, development resources and local activities to help them grow their community and establish a business.

–IANS

na/