Black Capital Exchange: Capital, Customers, Expertise and Diverse Markets

About this event

Black Capital Exchange

About the event

How can impact investing reach a wider range of businesses and activate more people to back them?

The businesses we encounter, the networks we draw on and the way we assess opportunity shape where our intentions lead.

MELLA Supply × Strategic Disruption Consulting invite impact investors, business leaders, professionals and founders to an evening exploring how finance, expertise and commercial access can contribute to a more diverse business ecosystem.

Lisbon is our meeting point for a conversation spanning Portugal, Europe and the diaspora.

MELLA is rooted in Black and Afro-Lusophone entrepreneurship. Our work connects ethnic-minority-led and women-led businesses with potential investors, commercial partners and relevant expertise.

We will explore opportunities across consumer goods, everyday services, technology and STEM ventures. The starting point is the business: what it does, who it serves and what it needs next.

A conversation about opportunity and participation

For those already investing for impact, this is an invitation to exchange perspectives on which businesses enter the pipeline, how they are understood and what appropriate backing looks like. For those interested in getting involved, it is a chance to explore how financial resources, operating experience or commercial relationships could contribute.

We will also share a first look at the two-sided approach MELLA and SDC are developing. Founders prepare to explain their businesses and needs; potential backers examine the context and evidence, with space for both sides to ask questions and learn from one another before considering a next step.

Right business. Right capital.

What to expect

Business perspectives: Experiences from founders, investors and business leaders.

A practical discussion: How finance, expertise and commercial access can respond to different business models, stages and needs.

An introduction to BCE: The approach we are developing and opportuniti

Description from the organiser’s page.