HBCU Seed on Its Way to Create an HBCU Ecosystem Community
CEO Terrel “T-Time” Davis is orienting his venture capital and private equity firm, HBCU Seed, to one day create an HBCU Black Wall Street ecosystem community. The firm, HBCU Seed, is one of the first black-owned HBCU venture capital firms and private equity firms that will provide funding and resources to HBCU universities. HBCU Seed will primarily invest in businesses owned by HBCU students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), are US institutions of higher education established to educate African-Americans. Davis is a proud graduate of Oakwood University, an HBCU institution, where he earned a degree in accounting. During his studies and work as a student entrepreneur, he discovered a lack of resources, services, and funding.
Having experienced and witnessed these problems in the community, Davis started HBCU Seed. The company was founded on the idea that all HBCU schools would unite to collectively put a large sum of investment funding together to provide entrepreneurship services and resources and to invest in the HBCU community.
Through HBCU Seed’s partnership with the HBCU Foundation, businesses vetted by the Foundation’s entrepreneurship center consortium, and that have received services and resources from one of the centers, will be able to receive venture capital. Davis envisions allowing all 107 HBCUs to become equity partners in HBCU seed for the minimal investment requirement of $100,000.
The HBCU Black Wall Street ecosystem is planned to be a community where HBCUs are fully self-sufficient and can circulate their money within their communities for a minimum of a year. Establishing the community would mean having all 107 HBCU institutions own and fully operate their businesses such as banks, hotels, restaurants, retail stores, airports, factories, studios, and many more. HBCU Black Wall Street will help HBCUs eliminate financial obstacles that hinder the community, and ultimately, it will help their students thrive to the best of their abilities.
In this challenging time and political climate, corporate entities are giving back to the black community in major ways. Netflix, the streaming giant, donated 140 million dollars for the benefit of HBCUs nationwide.
In a time where the black community is heard more than ever through the Black Lives Matter movement, Davis is giving back and securing funding through his company, HBCU Seed. The venture capital and private equity firm, dedicated to bridging infrastructure and resource gaps in HBCUs, continues to persevere on its way to bringing to life Davis’ dream. With an established HBCU ecosystem community, resource shortages of students, alumni, and faculty of African-American descent will be a thing of the past.
Planting the HBCU Seed has led Davis to help fulfill the need for resources, services, and funding in HBCUs. As its fruits continue to feed the HBCU community, HBCU Seed provides much needed services and opportunities, and is accepting added funding from investors and corporate donors. The firm furthers its commitment to the community by striving to earn funding during the pandemic.
To learn more about HBCU Seed and ways to contribute, visit them on their official website.