Macy’s Seeks to Boost Underrepresented Retail Businesses

Macy’s Inc. (New York) has created a funding effort to advance entrepreneurial growth, close wealth gaps and shatter systemic barriers faced by diverse-owned and underrepresented businesses, according to a company press release. The department store chain has partnered with Momentus Capital (Washington, D.C.) to create the new initiative, dubbed “S.P.U.R. Pathways: Shared Purpose, Unlimited Reach.”

Through Macy’s $30 million investment, S.P.U.R. Pathways will ultimately represent up to $200 million in access to critical funding for underrepresented businesses, and will feature a comprehensive range of financing options from growth equity capital to loans for working capital and commercial real estate, participants say. Additionally, the effort will provide a full suite of educational resources, fueling a holistic supplier ecosystem and acting as a catalyst for outsized growth.

“As part of our social purpose platform, Mission Every One, this investment will provide access to capital resources that will advance the next generation of brands and service providers,” Jeff Gennette, Chair and CEO of Macy’s, said in a news release. “By investing in high-growth underrepresented businesses at all stages of growth, we intend to create meaningful economic impact within our communities, while serving our customers.”

The lack of substantial capital deployment remains a persistent obstacle to underrepresented businesses’ success, the retailer notes. As an example, in 2021, startups with at least one Black founder only had access to 1.3 percent of total venture capital dollars invested in the U.S.