Launched by Atlanta based MC & Dope Coffee CEO Creative Mike The Rapper, Dope Coffee is the hot startup coffee brand taking the nation by storm in the wake of Black Lives Matter protest. After dropping the Black Jesus EP “Revolution for Black Lives”, Creative Mike hit the startup world by storm first winning the PG Shark Tank $7,500 Pitch Competition in Houston Texas on January 9th before the COVID-19 pandemic ensued. Unrelenting, Creative Mike pressed ahead with Dope Coffee doing an impossible feat for founders of color, attracting outside capital.
If the Black Jesus EP is a dissertation on Black economic warfare, then Creative Mike, an Afghan veteran is a general on the battlefield. After successfully bootstrapping his startup and still failing to attract investors, which is common for founders of color, Creative Mike utilized the Jobs Act signed into law by President Barack Obama to raise capital via investment crowdfunding. Dope Coffee company set out to raise the maximum amount permitted and hit the total with more than 5 days to spare. Not one to waste the momentum, Creative Mike also launched the Break the Wealth Gap Foundation, Inc. which has a plan to close the wealth gap for Americans of color. The first initiative of the Black Sheep Accelerator launches it’s first cohort this winter and will prepare founders of color to raise pre-seed capital and connect them directly to the resources and investors that made Dope Coffee’s journey possible.
Speaking on why founders of color aren’t raising capital for their ventures like their white counterparts, Creative Mike explains that “growing up in poverty taught me that hard work and effort alone won’t change the game for Black founders. The assumption is that people of color have an effort gap which is ridiculous. Black people have been grinding since the beginning of humanity, we only have a specific knowledge gap on how to access capital, we can do this together, I want to be the catalyst.” For his part, Creative Mike seems ready to put his money where his mouth is and has committed to a series of pitch competitions with cash prizes.
Dope Coffee Company is a Black-owned e-commerce coffee brand based in Atlanta, Georgia. Learn more at RealDope.Coffee
For press inquiries, contact press@realdope.coffee and (404) 784-9832
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