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Fundraising For Your Business Nicole Walters, CEO and founder of Inherit Learning Company, chats with Andres Wydler, executive director of StartOut, about overcoming fundraising obstacles when starting a business.

By Nicole Walters Edited by Jessica Thomas

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs have historically struggled to obtain access to key resources that they need to advance their businesses. In 2009, nonprofit StartOut was launched to promote LGBTQ equality and fight discrimination in the business world. In this video, Nicole Walters, founder and CEO of Inherit Learning Company and star of USA Network's She's The Boss, spoke with StartOut executive director Andres Wydler about overcoming fundraising challenges, particularly during Covid.

"We've seen investors go in two different directions during Covid," Wydler says. "The first was a flight to safety." Venture capitalists, he explains, turned to companies and entrepreneurs that they already knew, which was not great for underserved communities or newcomers. "But the second direction is a much more positive one," Wydler says. "Because every introduction meeting is just a Zoom call away, LGBTQ founders — and all founders — are getting a lot more attention. In a way, the pandemic opened up doors to resources that entrepreneurs need to be successful."

Nicole Walters

Founder & CEO Inherit Learning Company and Star of “She’s The Boss” on USA Network

Nicole Walters is a former top-selling corporate exec who quit her six-figure sales job in front of 10,000 people, took what she knew and built a million-dollar business in one short year. Walters is the Founder & CEO InheritLearning.com and star of She’s The Boss. All episodes of She’s The Boss are available now on USANetwork.com and the USA Network app.

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