New research conducted by the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership suggests the Black Lives Matter movement had a significant, positive impact on the fundraising efforts of Black restaurateurs.
In a study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, the researchers found in the decade before Black Lives Matter rose to prominence, Black restaurateurs were 76% less likely to be successful in the use of crowdfunding sources, such as Kickstarter, than non-Black restaurateurs. From 2010—2015, funding was 72% lower for Black-owned businesses and from 2016-2020 it was 79% lower.
But that all changed when the Black Lives Matter movement, and Kickstarter’s endorsement of it in 2020, increased public support and facilitated a sharp increase in funding success for Black-owned restaurants.
“After the BLM movement and the appearance of the Black Lives Matter hashtag on Kickstarter, African-American entrepreneurs’ fundraising projects were nearly four-times more successful than before,” said Yoon Koh, associate professor at Hilton College and the study’s lead author.
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