HSBC Venture Debt Program Reserves $100m to Support Women and Minority Led Start-ups

HSBC has announced it will allocate $100 million in lending for companies that are founded and led by women and minorities through HSBC ventures, which provides capital to startups and early-stage businesses, globally.

According to a TechCrunch report, venture capital funding to women-led companies fell during the global pandemic.

Data shows that the proportion of dollars to female-only founders declined to 2.3% in 2020, compared to 2.8% in 2019. From 2015 to 2020, only 2.4% of venture capital funding was allocated to Black and Latinx founders.

Martin Richards, president of HSBC Ventures, said: “Venture growth financing is critical to furthering innovation for early-stage companies that need capital.

“It’s critical to provide financial support to founders who are historically underrepresented, so that their creativity and ingenuity has a runway to grow, expand and lead to lasting, positive change.”

Customers of HSBC Ventures will have access to a set of commercial and investment banking product and decades of experience supporting early stage, growth stage, pre-IPO and public companies.

Prasant Chunduru, global head of Venture Debt, said: “The most innovative companies of our time have relied on venture growth financing, and we’re excited to support the next generation of founders and start-up leaders with unique perspectives from diverse backgrounds.”

Earlier this month, HSBC Ventures announced it would reserve $100 million in loan funding for clients who are developing climatetech solutions and supporting a net-zero global economy.

A study from Santa Clara University showed that being male is the primary factor for determining funding. The study says that it is more important to be male for startup funding than attending a top university.

Mastercard is also focusing its attention on start-ups. Last month, it launched a global sustainability innovation lab in Sweden. Alongside this, the payment giant will aim to support climate-focused fintech innovation through a cards and payments challenge and a start-up engagement program through a collaboration with Swedish fintech Doconomy.