Facebook Commits $100 Million to Support Women and Minority-Owned Businesses

Social media giant Facebook has announced a plan to purchase $100 million worth of unpaid invoices from small businesses owned by women and minorities to support them. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is expected to support the cash flow of 30,000 small businesses owned by women and minorities through this commitment.

CNBC reports that Facebook announced this week that it will be pledging $100 million to a program supporting small businesses operated by women and minorities by purchasing their unpaid invoices. The Facebook Invoice Fast Track program will get money to small businesses at a rapid pace, as many would have to wait weeks or months to receive payment from customers.

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JULY 07: James Robinson and his wife Perlina Robinson pose for a portrait in The Formalwear store on Blackout Day 2020 on July 07, 2020 in Miami Gardens, Florida. They have owned the business for the last 22 years. Supporters of Blackout Day have committed to only spending money at black-owned businesses to showcase the economic power of the Black community. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives for the 8th annual Breakthrough Prize awards ceremony at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California on November 3, 2019. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The program is an effort by Facebook to build its relationship with small businesses, many of which use the Facebook Ads platform to target niche demographics who may be interested in their products or services. Businesses that wish to apply for the program can submit outstanding invoices of a minimum of $1,000. If the invoices are accepted, Facebook will purchase the invoice and pay the business within a matter of days.

Customers then pay Facebook the outstanding invoices under the same terms and agreements they made with the small business. Facebook previously tested a similar version of this program in 2020 after discovering how the company’s suppliers were struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rich Rao, Facebook’s vice president of small business, commented: “We just heard first-hand the financial hardships that these suppliers were facing, and it was created really quickly and brought up as an idea and pitched to our CFO to say, ‘Hey, would we be able to help our suppliers with this?’ It was a very small pilot, but we did see that be very successful.”

Rao estimates that Facebook’s latest $100 million pledge will support around 30,000 small businesses. “It’s a new concept, but we’re really excited about it,” Rao said.

Businesses in the U.S. that are owned by women and minorities and are members of supplier organizations that serve “underrepresented groups” are eligible to apply for the program. This includes the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the National Veterans Business Development Council, Disability: IN, and the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce.