Don’t let bias rob the marketplace of good ideas
The Multicultural Innovation Lab (the “Lab”) is Morgan Stanley’s in-house accelerator program promoting financial inclusion and providing access to capital for early stage technology and tech-enabled companies led by women or ethnic-minority founders.
The Lab was launched in the US in 2017 and more than 50 startups have participated in the accelerator program and have since gone on to raise over $100 million in additional funding. This year the Lab has expanded to operate across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Morgan Stanley is targeting an inaugural EMEA Lab cohort of five startups and has earmarked investments of £200,000 in each, representing a total commitment of £1 million for the inaugural year of the planned multi-year program.
Research shows that ethnic minority and female founders face persistent disparities in business outcomes, with systemic disadvantages, such as differences in access to capital, playing a key role. Over the last ten years, less than 3% of the venture capital funds invested in UK went to teams of all-female founders and less than 2% to teams of all-ethnic minority founders.
The Multicultural Innovation Lab aims to offer redress to that situation by not only making investments in early-stage, high-growth companies, but also supporting the growth and development needs of these businesses through a unique ecosystem involving Morgan Stanley mentors and advisers as well as external industry experts. The Lab is expected to run over a five-month period, culminating in a Demo Day, during which all participants can present to a network of investors who could help provide capital and cultivate strategic partnerships to accelerate development and transform the growth trajectory of their business .
The application process for EMEA Lab is open from January to March 2022, with the first cohort of five companies starting the accelerator program in August at Morgan Stanley’s EMEA headquarters in Canary Wharf, London.
How to get involved
Application Link: https://mcil.theonevalley.com/display/MSA/Sign+Up
For more information on the lab, please visit Multicultural Innovation Lab | Morgan Stanley
