One of the surprising outcomes of the pandemic was the sustained surge in small-business startups. A record 5.4 million people filed new-business applications with the IRS in 2021, up from 4.4 million in 2020, which itself was a record.
To help these entrepreneurs succeed, Mastercard plans to extend grants to local business organizations beginning in needy areas in Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, New Orleans, New York City and St. Louis.
The move, announced Wednesday, brings Mastercard's Strive global financial inclusion effort launched last year to the U.S. for the first time, leveraging resources from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, according to a press release.
Strive USA will operate as a hub to connect small businesses with capital by helping community development financial institutions magnify their impact, working with technology partners to spread digital tools to entrepreneurs and orchestrating networking and mentorship opportunities in local communities, the release said.
One initial grantee is CNote, an Oakland, California-based company led by women that helps institutions and individuals invest in underserved communities by creating jobs, funding BIPOC-owned small businesses and supporting affordable housing development.
Community Reinvestment Fund USA, a Minneapolis-based CDFI that connects small-business owners from diverse backgrounds to capital, will also receive a grant, along with Momentus Capital, based in Arlington, Virginia, which has an inclusive approach to providing small businesses with capital plus business advice and training.
Capital One, a key supporter of Strive USA, will accelerate its investments in Black and Hispanic small-business communities and produce custom research to expand equity and opportunity for these groups as part of the new program, the release said.
Strive, operating under Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth, has launched similar ongoing initiatives to help small businesses and struggling communities in other global regions and in the U.K., Mastercard said.
Over the next five years through Strive USA, Mastercard aims to provide support to 5 million U.S. small businesses, the release said.
"Because small businesses are so essential to the U.S. economy, the barriers that stand in the way of their success also stand in the way of shared prosperity and inclusive growth," Shamina Singh, founder and president of Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth, said in the release.
"We want small businesses to do more than survive — we want them to thrive, and together with our digital tools and resources, cyber solutions and expansive network of partners, we're able to make a real impact on the individuals and communities they support," Ginger Siegel, Mastercard's North America Small Business Lead, said in the release.
