Bill.com Company Invoice2go Announces the Winners of Grow, a Program Created to Help Minority Small Business Owners Succeed
May 19 2022 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
The 20 winners from underrepresented groups
were awarded $200,000 in total cash and additional resources to
help them grow their businesses
Bill.com (NYSE:BILL), a leading provider of cloud-based software
that simplifies, digitizes, and automates financial operations for
small and midsize businesses (SMBs), today announced the winners of
‘Grow'. The award and business development program started by
Invoice2go, a Bill.com company, recognizes the untapped potential
of small business owners from underrepresented communities. Twenty
winners were chosen among 31,000 applicants by a judging panel of
five prominent journalists and SMB community leaders.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220519005234/en/
Meet the Grow Winners (Photo: Business
Wire)
“During this Small Business Month, Bill.com is reminded of the
tremendous contributions entrepreneurs make to the U.S. economy
each and every day,” said René Lacerte, Bill.com CEO and Founder.
“By recognizing our Grow winners and their minority-led businesses,
we hope to shine a light on what the future of finance should look
like, helping to remove systemic and institutional barriers by
providing technology resources, mentorship connections, and capital
to support their company growth.”
Based on a weighted scale of each entrepreneur's business plan,
purpose, feasibility of success, and challenges faced, the 20
selected winners were assigned to a 1st-tier cash prize of $15,000,
a 2nd-tier cash prize of $10,000, or a 3rd-tier cash prize of
$5,000 each. These winners also received a one-year complimentary
subscription of Invoice2go to further strengthen their ability to
grow over the next year.
All applicants have been given entrance to community platforms
including Go Getters, Female Founders, and Creative Collective,
along with business development workshops taught by renowned career
coaches and content creators to expand their community building and
knowledge sharing.
The list of winners include:
- 1st Tier (Five awardees):
- Hsin Liu, M Bar of Harrison
- Karol Rodriguez, Karol Rodriguez
- Leah Hernandez, Young Authors Publishing
- Robin Oloyede, Colorfull Plates™
- Sativa Brown, Baron Long Party Rentals
- 2nd Tier (Ten awardees):
- Anjali Nair, The Immigrant Academy
- Ashley Knight-Williams, I’m Still Hungry DC
- Demetria Sweatt, Wellness 4 U
- Derek Collins, Gifted & Lit
- Ismael Collazo, Blind Guy Boards
- Johnny Williams, WilliamsElectric
- Kristin Christian, Chicago French Press
- Kobe Boateng, Kobe Boateng
- Sonya Antoinette Harris, Go Verbal Speech Language Pathology
Services
- Tara Cooper, It’s Bout Time Beauty Supply
- 3rd Tier (Five awardees):
- Estephanie Mosquera Ortiz, Beaut&Beast Co.
- Patricia Brickhouse, Ascension Ranch
- Shana Henry, Muffhens Bakery
- Shanika Valcour-LeDuff, Labor and Love
- Trevon Williams and Wendy Brehm, Purple Rose Wellness
The judging panel consists of the following esteemed prominent
journalists and SMB community leaders:
- Candace Waterman, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public
Policy
- Gene Marks, small business expert, keynote speaker, author and
columnist at publications such as Forbes, The Guardian and The
Hill
- Ramon Ray, entrepreneur, keynote speaker and best-selling
author
- Rodney Fong, President and CEO of San Francisco Chamber of
Commerce
- Stephanie Mehta, CEO and Chief Content Officer at Mansueto
Ventures, parent of Inc. and Fast Company
“As the CEO of a Chamber of Commerce in one of the most diverse
cities in the country, I am dedicated to helping all businesses
thrive,” said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco
Chamber of Commerce. “I am thankful that programs like Grow can
commit the time, financial support, and resources to ensure that
businesses are reflective of the community they are serving.”
Grow winner Young Authors Publishing is a children's and young
adult book publisher whose mission is to change the dialogue around
accurate representation in literature by sharing the stories of
Black, Brown, and Indigenous young people. “Currently, less than 7%
of children's books are written for Black, Latino, and Native
authors combined,” said Leah Hernandez, Founder and CEO of Young
Authors Publishing. “We are committed to using this capital to
support our growing community by offering competitive royalty
splits for young authors, educating authors on literacy courses,
and providing publishing opportunities to underrepresented
writers.”
Learn more about the Grow winners here.
Disclaimer: To be considered for Grow, businesses needed to be
majority-owned, operated, and controlled by at least one US
resident 18 years or older. Eligible business owners had to
identify as one or more of the following: Asian-Indian,
Asia-Pacific, Black, Hispanic, Native American or Alaska Native,
Arab or Middle Eastern, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,
LGBTQ+, or as a person with a disability. In addition, the business
needed to be less than five years old, have no more than ten
employees, and have annual revenue of no more than $1,000,000 per
year. Read all Grow’s terms and conditions here.
About Bill.com
Bill.com (NYSE: BILL) is a leading provider of cloud-based
software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates financial
operations for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). The company’s
mission is to make it simple to connect and do business. Additional
solutions include all-in-one expense management platform Divvy and
mobile invoicing product Invoice2go. Hundreds of thousands of SMBs
worldwide use Bill.com’s solutions to manage end-to-end financial
workflows, process payments, and create connections to suppliers
and clients, helping to manage cash inflows and outflows. Bill.com
partners with leading U.S. financial institutions, accounting
firms, and accounting software providers. Bill.com is headquartered
in San Jose, CA. For more information visit www.bill.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220519005234/en/
Press Contact: Oriana Branon obranon@hq.bill.com
619-997-0299
IR Contact: Karen Sansot ksansot@hq.bill.com
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