One of the biggest challenges Black entrepreneurs face is access to capital.We know Black people start businesses in droves (SBA’s 2024 fact sheet reported about 3.59 million Black-owned businesses), but research shows that they too often start them with less money, and with less access to capital to grow their businesses compared to white-owned businesses.Federal Reserve data consistently show higher loan denial rates for companies owned by people of color. The Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey says Black-owned companies “face more challenges than their white-owned counterparts and are more likely to be denied financing when they apply.”Brookings reported that in 2025 only 6.5% of Black-owned business owners received SBA loans.It’s no wonder, then, why Stanford/SIEPR reports that Black entrepreneurs are about three times more likely than white entrepreneurs to say they didn’t even apply for credit when they needed it because they feared being denied given the Black experience.Black-owned startups are also about three times less likely than white-owned startups to say their loan requests are always approved.Government contracting also reflects major capital and access disparities. Brookings reported that in 2024, only about 1.5% of the federal government’s $637 billion contracting budget went to small Black-owned businesses. That’s staggering.Venture capital disparities are even more extreme. Crunchbase reported that in 2024, startups with a Black founder or even co-founder received only 0.4% of all U.S. startup funding. Read that number again. 0.4%!For Black women founders, the gap is worse. The World Economic Forum reported that Black women startup founders received just 0.34% of total U.S. venture capital. This is particularly disturbing given that Black women are increasingly more educated.To be clear, most startup businesses, regardless of race, struggle to raise money and obtain enough capital to achieve success.But whatever that struggle is, Black people face exponentially greater hurdles.Thankfully, there’s a new sheriff in town that can help fix some of this.Artificial Intelligence.Small businesses needed capital for all kinds of things.Money to pay for website and app developers. Money to pay for marketing and graphic artists. Social media managers. Money to pay consultants or employees to help write business plans.And even bigger things. Money for someone to answer the phones. To have customer support. To track customer sales and information.But now, if used correctly, AI can create robust websites, beautiful flyers, comprehensive email campaigns, product descriptions, slogans, social posts, and ad copy. A business that once needed paid employees, contractors, or professionals for every imaginable issue no longer needs the money for that.AI can even help create the right brand name that might be eluding an entrepreneur.AI can create social media content calendars, captions, hashtags, short video scripts, post ideas, and automated replies to common comments. It can help a small business look active online without hiring a full-time social media manager.AI can draft responses to common customer emails. It can help process refunds, change appointments, answer FAQs, address complaints, answer shipping and pricing questions, and even generate follow-ups.It can make menu designs, event posters, packaging ideas, and ad visuals.AI Bots, complete with coughing, laughter and jokes, are now even being employed as full salespeople across industries. I know one company that has saved millions in dollars using them all while increasing sales!Programs powered by AI can now help categorize expenses, generate invoices, draft payment reminders, summarize cash-flow issues, and explain financial reports.AI can write job descriptions, interview questions, onboarding checklists, employee handbooks, training guides, and performance review templates. A small business can professionalize hiring without paying HR consultants for every document.AI-based programs can now turn complicated instructions into standard operating procedures such as how to open and close the shop. How to handle refunds. Or prepare food. The ways to greet customers. Manage inventory. Even clear written policies on how to respond to emergencies.What used to be a lengthy and expensive exercise in understanding the playing field, AI can now summarize competitors, compare pricing, identify customer segments, generate survey questions, analyze reviews, and suggest business opportunities. It can give small businesses a cheaper version of a research assistant.Of course, AI cannot fully replace lawyers, consultants and accountants. It cannot entirely remove humans from the business equation. And indeed, businesses still all to be careful when it comes to compliance with the law.But many things that once required capital made inaccessible because of racism can be bypassed with AI.None of this is an excuse for the deep systemic racism embedded into the world of business funding. Nor should it stop any efforts to dismantle those unjust systems.In the meantime, though, business owners should use AI to their advantage and not wait for institutions to address systemic injustice. The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it still remains way too long.

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