MBE Equity Multiplier Program Investor Deal Book

About the Project

The Minority Business Enterprise Equity Multiplier Project (MBE EMP) supports the financial success of US-based minority-owned businesses through a variety of services.

Their mission was to create an investor deal book, which showcases minority-owned businesses they have supported before who are ready for venture capital. This book is a collection of one-pagers that highlights the value proposition and opportunities for potential investors. The sectors featured in this book range from food and beverage, SaaS technologies, and healthcare. The deal book exhibits a diverse array of accredited businesses ready to take off.

Creative Repute was hired to design the investor deal book for the last quarter of 2022. In a sea of investment opportunities, it is crucial to help fledgling entrepreneurs stand out from their competition. This is especially true for minority-owned businesses, which have historically faced additional challenges when seeking out the support of venture capital. A cutting-edge, engaging design was not only the key to excite potential investors, but also to compel them to follow through and invest in businesses partnered with MBE EMP.

Our Approach to the Investor Deal Book

Creative Repute started the design with an in-depth discovery process. We discussed the client’s goals, assessed their target audience, and established the parameters of the project.

Several initial style guides and design concepts were prepared and discussed with the internal team and then the client team. We presented a style guide that was completely in line with the already established EMP’s branding, as well as an option that was radically different. The collaborative brainstorming sessions between the client and our design team were imperative in establishing the stakes of the project.

As part of this early ideation process, it was essential to establish the correct tone. We aimed for a design that was sleek, professional, and one that evoked a sense of authority and accreditation without being too dry and corporate. It was essential to the client that the final tone be both elegant and elevated.

With the client’s goals, mission, and feedback in mind, the Creative Repute design team updated a style guide that integrated many of the existing style elements of the EMP, while slightly expanding on them as well. It was important to keep constants like color families and proprietary fonts, to maintain the strength of MBE EMP’s branding and not alienate its base. However, in an effort to call in and entice new investors, Creative Repute offered design elements that pushed the stylistic envelope as well.

Once the style guide was established, our team got to work producing the deal book pages. The design team excitedly put together a couple of iterations of key features of the book, such as the covers, a base design or template for the one-pagers, and the introduction page. In a series of meetings with the client to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each mock-up, the design team was able to work hand-in-hand with the client to ensure the creation of a finalized publication that best fulfilled the project’s goals.

Throughout the design process, The Creative Repute team was in close communication with the client to make sure their feedback was received and implemented. From consulting on big-picture decorative themes to the minute spacing between bullet points, the Creative Repute team ensured the client had a hand in the aesthetic direction of all steps of the design.

The Creative Repute team prepared an impressive deal book highlighting 21 investor-ready businesses. The final product was both print-ready, as well as optimized for web use. As a women-led, Black-owned, and queer-owned business, Creative Repute is proud to have worked on a project that will help expand MEB EMP’s mission to uplift historically underrepresented business owners.

Client’s Mission

The MBE Equity Multiplier Project (EMP) was founded to address the well-known adversities that exist for minority-owned businesses trying to access equity funding. In 2019, Black and Latinx founders accounted for less than 4% of all venture capital deals, and only 2.3% of all venture dollars raised in the US. The MBE EMP believes this is in part due to a lack of resources for MBEs. In response, they proudly offer critical support for minority businesses to access investment capital such as educational, financial, and professional services.