Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative program has announced a new $25 million investment that will benefit minority-owned businesses in the United States that commonly struggle to find funding. In particular, startups based in Miami, San Francisco and other tech and Latinx epicenters in the country could benefit.
REJI, for its acronym in English, is a program that Apple founded in June 2020 and has already exceeded the $200 million initially planned to support Latino, black and indigenous communities in the country, providing access to education, financial literacy and boosting judicial reform in the United States, but also in countries like Mexico, Australia and Canada.
According to the company, more than 160,000 people have received in-person training and more than $50 million has been invested in historically black and Hispanic-serving educational institutions.
HOW DO YOU GET AN APPLE INVESTMENT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
While Apple won’t give you money directly for your business, the company has made $25 million available through three venture capital firms: Collab Capital, Harlem Capital and Vamos Ventures. All work to help minority businesses.
Vamos Ventures in particular is based in Los Angeles and helps provide funding and partnership to Latino and diverse businesses. In particular, this firm focuses on helping businesses focused on health and wellness, the future of work, sustainability and FinTech.
Apple and its venture capital partners are interested in technology-based businesses that improve the future. Here you can review some of Vamos Ventures’ requirements.
STUDY OPPORTUNITIES IN MIAMI
While Apple’s programs benefit Hispanics across the U.S., the company is a partner of Miami Dade College, which is currently implementing Miami Codes, a project to increase the number of minority students developing coding skills for iOS, with the company’s support.
Apple covers all the necessary fees for the students benefited, including transportation, in addition to other items such as computers and software needed to learn.
Now might be a good time to look into the summer camps also offered by Miami Dade College, where two high school students can explore iOS app development.