Sky pledges £1m seed cash for black owned businesses

Sky has announced a £1m enterprise initiative to support Black entrepreneurs.

The money will be targeted specifically at Black entrepreneurs to “deliver its commitment to tackle racial injustice.”

In June 2020, Sky earmarked £30million over the three years to improve Black and minority ethnic representation at all levels within Sky and “use the power of its voice and platform to highlight racial injustice.”

Sky says the new allocation of funds will support Black business founders in the UK by identifying the barriers to succeeding faced by Black entrepreneurs in the UK, delivering “practical solutions” to support Black entrepreneurs to succeed, including a combination of business advice, mentoring and financial support as well as creating the opportunity to access Sky’s own supply chain.

Announcing the funding, Sky’s Group CEO, Dana Strong, said: “We believe we have an opportunity to stand against racial injustice, and to tackle the barriers to success faced by Black people in the UK. This new fund will help Black entrepreneurs to succeed and to drive economic prosperity, which is at the heart of equity.”

The ‘delivery partner’ and recipient of the enterprise initiative has been identified and will be announced in early 2022. The delivery partner will work with Sky to address the “unique barriers Black entrepreneurs face when starting their business.” The fund also aims to create scalable models for supporting Black founders in British business which will be published and shared.

Sky says the long-term aim is to incorporate these diverse-owned businesses into Sky’s own supply chain.

Sky’s £30m has already funded a three-year partnership between Sky and Kick It Out to drive inclusion in football and make it easier for football fans to report discrimination.

In January 2021, Sky set targets to increase ethnic diversity and representation across its UK workforce. By 2025, Sky is aiming for 20% of its employees in the UK & Ireland to be from Black, Asian, or ethnically diverse backgrounds, with at least a quarter of these being Black. This target also applies to Sky’s leadership team.