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So Close, Yet... It may seem like the Internet is everyone's formula for success, but are minorities being left out of the equation?

By Cynthia E. Griffin

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The Internet has been hyped as the great equalizer for minorityentrepreneurs, and in one respect, that's true: Anyone can setup shop in cyberspace and, as long as the product does what itshould, buyers don't care what ethnicity the seller is.

But when it comes to growing an Internet business, the picturegets murkier. Are ethnic minority entrepreneurs tasting some of thedot.com pie?

Some are; some aren't. ShopNow.com, a cybermall created by AfricanAmerican entrepreneur Dwayne Walker has obtained $95 million inventure and private financing. NetNoir Inc., an African Americanportal co-founded by E. David Ellington, raised more than $10million in venture capital; and BET.com closed $35 million in equityinvestments for a planned Afro-centric portal.

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