Meet Keenan Beasley of Venture Noire

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keenan Beasley.

Hi Keenan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I founded Venture Noire in 2019, following my exit from my millennial-focused creative & martech agency in New York City. Typically you come off of these wins and you expect to feel really good, but instead I actually felt very isolated. I realized there wasn’t a robust, diverse, startup ecosystem there – there wasn’t a community. Venture Noire was founded to build community — an ecosystem.

Before we were fully formed, we were inviting diverse entrepreneurs to come together, and I realized there was one key theme between them all. There was this lack of confidence — not in their own personal abilities, but in feeling that the ecosystem was set up for them to win. Not all entrepreneurs are aware of the resources that exist. When these talented entrepreneurs are going through their journey, they just feel alone.

With this in mind, I decided to change that. We can build confidence in these entrepreneurs by bringing the ecosystem right to them. There’s now a lot of competition and a lot of talent in the middle of the country. Our job is to help increase exposure and make a lot of these venture capitalists, private equities, larger banks and institutions, and corporate partners aware of a really thriving and emerging startup ecosystem. We also support communities through economic impact – helping entrepreneurs scale and grow their business and create an even larger workforce. I think if we’re continuing to build this exposure, we’re succeeding, and that’s something that we’re hyper focused on.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has been incredibly inspiring. We have a chance to learn and interact with highly talented individuals on a daily basis. Not only that, we get to work with large organizations that have the same goal – to create sustainable impact within under represented populations. That’s the positive. What keeps me up at night is ensuring that this is a movement and not a moment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Venture Noire is a 510c3 accredited non-profit diversity, equity and inclusion partner. Venture Noire was formed to build confidence and profitability in underrepresented founders and entrepreneurs of color through curriculum, community and access to capital. Through its programming, Venture Noire is on a mission to accelerate communities of color by catalyzing the success of minority-owned businesses in the digital economy.

Venture Noire’s ecosystem includes dozens of minority-owned start-ups that are on the cutting edge of technology, innovation and creativity.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Honestly I live in total transparency (my Instagram tells it all). I believe in sharing wins and losses but most importantly, sharing lessons.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.venturenoire.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venturenoire/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Entrepreneur/Venture-Noire-1083618731845235/

Image Credits
Chloe Johnson