BrightStreet, a new nonprofit, officially launched at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). Joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Super Bowl XLIV Champion and entrepreneur Marques Colston, BrightStreet founders, partners, and three entrepreneurs from BrightStreet’s inaugural cohort used sledgehammers to break through a life-sized faux brick wall, symbolizing the organization’s mission to eliminate obstacles to capital, mentorship, technology, and training for small business owners historically excluded from traditional lending.
Micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees make up 95% of all businesses nationwide, yet they are denied funding at more than twice the rate of other small businesses. Nearly half operate in low-income communities where access to financing and guidance is limited, not because of a lack of talent, but a lack of access.
BrightStreet aims to provide affordable loans, grants, financial education, mentorship, and hands-on operational support to startups, solopreneurs, and micro-enterprises that often fall outside traditional borrowing criteria. By pairing capital with guidance, BrightStreet looks to give entrepreneurs not only funding, but the tools and support necessary to build sustainable businesses…