Welcome to Axios Recap. I'm Naomi Shaven, and I'm filling in for Dan this week.

Today is Thursday, August 13th. Best Buy stock is up, the Dow is down, and we're focused on the

pandemic's impact on businesses owned by women of color.

As the pandemic has stretched on and support for the Black Lives Matter movement has surged,

we've had a national reckoning over the multiple crises that Black Americans especially are facing.

On top of the structural racism and violence Black Americans experienced already,

health disparities in COVID-19 outcomes have hit black communities particularly

hard, and economic impacts from the pandemic have been devastating. The J.P. Morgan Chase Institute

found that small businesses had, on average, just 15 cash buffer days before the coronavirus

pandemic, but that 95% of small businesses and majority black communities had 14 days

or fewer. Then in May, research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found

that the previous month, 41% of black business owners and 25% of female business owners reported

that they weren't working. This week, USA Today and the 19th

co-published a story headlined, when systemic racism meets the coronavirus, black women suffer

economically. These events, findings, and reports have catalyzed an outpouring of support for

black women-owned businesses. And one organization, Black Girl Ventures, saw $200,000

in donations come in over just 10 days. Black Girl Ventures supports Black and Brown

women identifying founders with funding, helping them to scale, and providing them with a network

and other resources. Shelly Bell, founder of Black Girl Ventures, joins us now to talk about how the founders

and her network are faring through the pandemic, what happened after the donations poured in,

and what they hope to see next.

We had talked at the beginning of the pandemic for a piece that I was reporting.

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