Creative Entrepreneurs Drive Impact. So Where Are All the Impact Investors?
The impact sector has been slow to recognize the value of investing in creative sector entrepreneurs. We get it: old school arts and culture models of museums, high end art galleries, and "the ballet" were exclusive and disconnected.
But today, from Brazilian favelas to festival founders on Malaysian beaches, creative entrepreneurs are driving unprecedented value in economies, tackling youth unemployment, creating high-wage jobs, and generating new cultural value and identity. Our book, to be released 9/15/2018 on Amazon, uncovers over 30 stories along these lines.
Here's just one: there are 370 million indigenous people on our planet. And until 5 years ago there were zero comic books by and for indigenous people. So, Maori children and Navajo teens alike never saw a reflection of themselves as superheroes in the popular culture.
Today, Native Realities not only publishes a series of comics, they also launched the world's first Indigenous Comic Con. Thousands of indigenous people have joined the Con, dozens of Native artists use the platforms to sell their work, and Lee is now hiring Native coders and animation artists as they expand into games.
We have worked with dozens of these visionary creative entrepreneurs through our accelerator. But while writing our book, Creative Economy Entrepreneurs, we realized how little the impact sector is doing to support creative visionaries.
How can we change this? Are we missing a cohort of investors out there? Who should we be talking to?
Today I was invited today the Clinton Foundation to discuss this topic. So, that's a positive sign. But we don't just need foundations looking at creative economy entrepreneurs as positive investments. We need angels, VC's, and corporate venture groups who see the value of creative enterprises. Because these same institutions and individuals are investing in the technologies that both promise and threaten to make many of today's jobs obsolete. So, what are we investing in that machines can't do?
Hopefully, creativity.
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Creative Startups is a leading startup accelerator, working globally to support creative industries entrepreneurs. Show less