Inclusion-focused entrepreneurship award expands to Baltimore

Baltimore is one of seven cities where a business plan competition focused on inclusive entrepreneurship is expanding.
The Envolve Award USA is offering winners up to $25,000 in funding, as well as access to mentors and support services to help founders from diverse and underserved backgrounds build a business.
Run by the nonprofit Envolve Entrepreneurship, the award launched in 2016 as the American Entrepreneurship Award. Along with adding more cities to its initial locations of Miami Dade County, Fla., and Bronx, NY, the organization is rebranding in its third year.
“Envolve hopes that its expansion to new cities will increase participation and help shift focus around developing innovative ways to deploy capital among diverse entrepreneurs,” a news release from Envolve states. “The organization hopes to serve as an example for others around the importance of supporting the underserved and how the provision of education and resources can serve as a tool for success.”

Hey #NewYorkCity #Miami #WashingtonDC #Baltimore #Atlanta #Charleston #Detroit #Flint, we're offering up to $250,000 in interest-free, no-equity business start-up & scale-up funding to multiple #entrepreneurs in each location. #EnvolveAwardUSA https://t.co/YkHFruVOaV Please RT pic.twitter.com/PEfK3TkjY4

— Founder Forward(Formerly Envolve Entrepreneurship) (@FounderFwd) June 27, 2018

In each location, the nonprofit is partnering with additional organizations supporting early-stage businesses. Among them are Kiva, which provides financing for entrepreneurs, and mentoring and education organization SCORE.
For each location, Envolve is pledging up to $250,000 in funding that is interest free, and does not include taking equity. There will potentially be multiple winners in each region. Each individual entrepreneur chosen as a recipient will be eligible for a maximum of $25,000.
Applications opened this week, and winners will be named in the fall.