A mentorship and grant program designed to support Black-owned businesses. Applications close November 12, 2021.
APPLY NOWAs a young company, we know that launching a business is hard. And we know that, without equal access to connections or capital, it’s even harder for Black entrepreneurs. We’re determined to help change that.
Our team has learned a lot while building Parachute – and we’re excited to share our knowledge and experience with you. We want to not only help launch your brand, but also offer lifelong connections to support you throughout your entrepreneurial journey.
1:1s with Ariel Kaye, Parachute Founder and CEO.
Weekly meetings with and access to our team members: including finance, marketing and more.
A $25k grant to spend on your business.
Amplification of your brand through our email and social channels.
A grant program that aims to support Black-owned, product-centric businesses with capital, advisory meetings and brand amplification.
The program is only open to businesses based in the United States.
The goal of this program is to not only provide financial support, but also share what we’ve learned while building Parachute. We believe we are best positioned to make an impact focusing on companies that also sell physical products.
We spent a lot of time thinking about how we can show up as a company and do our part to support the Black community. Our decision was to start by doing something that we know well – starting and running a business. We made the commitment to start this program because Black people receive less funding and capital investments than any other demographic. Please know, we are continually looking for different ways to support different communities.
Currently, we are only accepting one application and one business per applicant.
We will be giving each recipient a grant of $25k when they are accepted into the program.
This is a six month program. We will award one $25k grant every six months.
No, this grant is for you to invest in growing your business.
The only requirement is that recipients use the grant funding for legitimate business expenses that are consistent with what’s outlined in their application. We will not be inspecting or monitoring recipients’ expenditures. But we will be happy to help guide recipients in spending the funds.
Our mentorship aspect of the program includes:
Ongoing meetings with Parachute’s founder and CEO, Ariel
Monthly video calls with team members across all departments
Ongoing access to the Parachute team through our communication channels (email, Slack)
Amplification of your brand via Parachute’s newsletter and social channels
Yes. Employees of Parachute are welcome to apply if they meet the requirements.
Click the Apply Now button at the top of this page to out an application.
Please note, we strongly recommend applying on a desktop and saving a copy of your application for your personal records.
Applications will open September 20, 2021 and close November 12, 2021 for our program. We will contact finalists in November-December 2021. If you are not selected, you are welcome to reapply in the next year and share with us your progress.
You will need to provide us with basic information about yourself and your business. The application poses a series of short questions, and asks for your sales over the past year (if applicable), projections for the next two years and details about fundraising or debt.
No, you will need to fill out the entire application at one time. We suggest reviewing the application before getting started and gathering your answers on a separate document.
You may go back and edit your application while you are working on it. However, once an application is submitted, it cannot be edited. If you need to provide more information or fix an error, please email mentorship@parahutehome.com.
While we are not accepting physical samples of products, we encourage you to include pictures and detailed descriptions in your application.
You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been submitted.
Yes. The only people who will be privy to the information in your application will be the selection committee.
We will reach out to finalists in November 2021 via the email address or phone number listed on your application.
A few finalists will be chosen for each grant. They will be asked to provide additional information, such as financial statements, and may be asked to interview with the selection committee. From the finalists, one grant recipient will be chosen.
The selection committee is composed of a cross-departmental group of Parachute team members.
We will be focused on evaluating your brand, its mission and your business plan.
You may need to provide additional information such as financial statements if your application makes it through to our finalist round. Finalists will also be asked to interview with the selection committee.
No. Being a past or current Parachute customer will not improve your chance at being selected.
Yes! If you have a website or Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. accounts, please link to them in the application. But you can absolutely apply without.
Please email mentorship@parachutehome.com and we will be happy to get back to you.
See the Official Terms and Conditions for for full details about the program.