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The numbers are clear: if you鈥檙e not a white male, your chances of accessing venture capital are exceedingly low.

Since 2015, Black and Latinx founders have of total venture capital invested. Plus, the current VC funding system capitalizes women and minority founders at .

Startups may turn to banks, but typically struggle to get bank loans. Banks typically require two to three years of credit history and hard asset collateral to extend capital.

Other funding routes鈥攕uch as personal savings, high-interest credit card debt, or friends and family funding鈥攁ren鈥檛 available to all founders. After all, about 70 percent of Americans have

Bottom line: Existing funding options fail to meet the needs of founders, especially minority founders.

Unfortunately, most VCs don鈥檛 see it that way. About 80 percent of investors believe that minority and female business owners get at least the right amount of capital .

It鈥檚 hard to solve a problem you don鈥檛 see.

So if today鈥檚 traditional VC can鈥檛 help minority founders launch and grow their business, what other solutions exist to address this inequity in startup funding?

Here are three possible solutions:

1. Build fairer pathways to funding
2. Create an ecosystem that supports minority founders
3. Encourage traditional banks and VCs to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)

Solution 1: Build fairer paths to funding

To serve minority founders better, we need to create different paths to startup capital.

There are emerging options: New approaches to entrepreneur capital, hybrid accelerator/angel investors, and disruptive financing models like crowdfunding and revenue-based financing.

Solution 2: Cultivate an ecosystem that supports minority founders

There are plenty of angel investors, entrepreneurship groups and social networks dedicated to supporting founders. However, the homogeneity of existing funding systems means that minority founders often lack connections to resources and investors.

That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to cultivate a startup ecosystem that supports minority founders. This means:

• Elevating the voices and experiences of minority founders;
• Curating resources designed for the unique challenges that minority founders face, like ;
• Establishing new funds led by and built for minority founders;
• Developing social groups where minority founders can connect with supporters;
• Normalizing that there is no 鈥渘ormal鈥� founder journey; and
• Continuing to challenge conscious and unconscious bias in the startup funding world.

Solution 3: Hold traditional funding avenues accountable to DE&I

Since banks and venture capital firms control the majority of available startup capital, they need to be part of the solution.

To do that, encourage existing funding sources to prioritize diversity and inclusion. After all, DE&I . The failure to fund women- and minority-led businesses amounts to a .

Here are a few proven strategies existing funding options can implement:

• Communicate the value of diversity and inclusion; it鈥檚 more than a box to check;
• Ensure that your internal decision-making team includes different demographics, backgrounds and experiences鈥攄iverse teams make ;
• Analyze the demographics of both your applicants and portfolio; and
• Lean on to educate you on evolving best practices.

These solutions point a path toward more equity in startup funding.

聽is the fractional CMO at , which uses proprietary investment terms, the Convertible Income Share Agreement, to write checks of $15,000 to $50,000 to high-potential entrepreneurs.

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