Photo Credit: Instagram

We all know the Houston-bred rapper, Chamillionaire, for giving us unforgettable hits like “Hip-Hop Police” and “Riding Dirty“. We’ve also grown to know the rapper for his entrepreneurial endeavors. The Grammy-award winning rapper announced on Monday that he, E-40, and Republic.Co will be investing $100,00 in minority or woman founded start-up companies. He also encourages others to look into which are the best stocks to buy to support small and minority-run businesses. He hopes this is him doing his bit to empower those who are often put down in society.

“Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy, but it’s even harder for minority and women led companies,…these people are solving new and unique problems and I think the only thing in their way is capital.” – Chamillionaire

Start-ups will participate by  submitting  pitches on Convoz, an  app Chamillionaire launched back in 2016. 

Chamillionaire’s  goal is to bring awareness to groups who have been underrepresented in the investment world. 

“When people say they can’t find African-American startups to invest in, it just sounds a little crazy to me…at one point I was getting 30 candidates a month, but when I said I only wanted to invest in women or minorities I started getting just two candidates a month.” – Chamillionaire

Chamillionaire was also an early investor in Lyft. He previously invested in Ring which was acquired by Amazon,  Cruise which was acquired by GM,  and Maker Studios which was acquired by Disney. 

Shark Tank’s very own, Daymond John will also be a partner in the project.He  help narrow applications down to five finalists.

The start-up  pitch competition will run from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6.