Mellody Hobson’s Ariel Alternatives Receives $1.45B In Commitments For Inaugural ‘Project Black’ Fund
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Ariel Alternatives has announced the raise of $1.45 billion for Project Black LP, the first private equity initiative of Ariel Investments.
The post Mellody Hobson’s Ariel Alternatives Receives $1.45B In Commitments For Inaugural ‘Project Black’ Fund appeared first on AfroTech.
Project Black
According to a press release, Project Black aims to put capital toward middle-market companies that may not be minority-owned, in addition to existing businesses owned by Black and Latinos, with a range of $100 million to $1 billion in revenue.
As a result of the Fund’s ownership, these companies will become certified minority business enterprises of scale that can serve as Tier 1 suppliers to Fortune 500 companies.
“We are scaling change. In so doing, we will redefine what it means to be a minority-owned business in the United States. We are grateful to our investors who share our mission,” said Mellody Hobson, Co-Founder of Ariel Alternatives and Co-CEO & President of Ariel Investments, in a press statement.
Investors Commit At Least $100M
Project Black investors — who have all committed between $100 million to $200 million over the fund’s investment period set at seven years — include, but are not limited to:
“We chose to partner with large institutions that are seeking to drive widespread corporate vendor diversity. Our goal is to help close the racial wealth gap by creating minority-owned businesses of scale through access to both capital and customers,” said Leslie A. Brun, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of Ariel Alternatives, according to a press release.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Project Black is looking to work closely with 6 to 10 middle-market platform companies that meet their revenue criteria.
The markets of interest include:
healthcare
industrial
media and marketing
outsourcing
manufacturing and packaging
technology
transportation and logistics
financial and professional services
According to Forbes, it is predicted that the impact of these efforts will lead S&P 500 companies to spend between $8 billion to $10 billion with Black and Latino suppliers, which could also lead to nearly 100,000 jobs in minority communities across 10 industries.