As of Sunday, January 16, all women-owned businesses within Comcast’s California service area can apply for the Comcast RISE program. This major expansion of Comcast RISE furthers efforts to advance digital equity and helps provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive.
Of the Comcast RISE recipients named in the program’s first year, nearly 70% have been businesses owned by women of color, spurring Comcast to take a deeper look into the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
“Women can sometimes be left out of conversations around funding and technology. If our business isn’t technology focused, we can find ourselves left out of finding ways technology can advance our business. But every small business can benefit from a technology upgrade, whether you are in the hair, food or mannequin industry,” said Judi Henderson, a RISE Investment Fund recipient and owner of Mannequin Madness in Oakland, “Comcast recognizes the many challenges women business-owners encounter and the RISE grant is helping put women at the forefront.”
According to a study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, with more than 1,800 new businesses being started every day. That’s nearly five times the national average. However, according to the same study, women-owned businesses are growing at only half the rate of those run by men, namely because women struggle to access capital and other resources to help them succeed. The Comcast RISE expansion to all women-owned businesses recognizes and seeks to help address these persistent inequities women continue to face in accessing the resources and funding that are critical to success.
Comcast RISE, which stands for Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment, is part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive.
Comcast recently announced its fifth round of Comcast RISE recipients, which includes 1,400 small businesses owned by people of color, that will receive a TV campaign, production of a TV commercial or consulting services from Effectv or computer equipment, internet, voice or cybersecurity from Comcast Business. In its first year alone, Comcast RISE has provided over $60 million in grants, marketing, and technology services to more than 6,700 small businesses owned by people of color – including Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian Americans.
Looking to support a diverse-owned business? Comcast California has created the RISE Business Directory that allows users to explore RISE businesses near them. View the map here.
Comcast RISE, which just celebrated its one year anniversary, will continue to be open to racially and ethnically diverse small business owners and the expanded Comcast RISE eligibility to all women-owned businesses will be effective on January 16, 2022. More information and the applications to apply for either the grant program or marketing and technology services are available at www.ComcastRISE.com.