The Coca‑Cola Company in North America Collaborates with Rise Up Crowdfunding LLC to Launch an Equity Crowdfunding Resource for Women and Minority-Owned Small Business

The Coca‑Cola Company is proud to support the launch of Rise Up Crowdfunding. The equity crowdfunding portal empowers investors from the general public to invest in women and minority-owned small companies and startups looking to raise capital. 

Coca‑Cola’s commitment to supplier diversity focuses on maximizing procurement opportunities and proactively engaging and building partnerships with diverse suppliers.

The Rise Up Crowdfunding funding portal offers a new solution for business owners to gain access to a process for raising capital from the crowd, which could be a community of their customers, fans, followers, and the general public. And if successful, it could help them gain a supplier diversity contract.

“Coca‑Cola’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference, and we share Rise Up’s Crowdfunding’s mission to support businesses and underrepresented groups within the communities we serve,” said Fernando Hernandez, Senior Director, Supplier Diversity, The Coca‑Cola Company. “This much-needed resource can, in many cases, help small businesses scale up or expand their operations, open new locations and grow their brands.”

“We believe in a future where the next world-changing business does not go unrealized because of a lack of access to capital. We are excited to be working with The Coca‑Cola Company in this venture to make the change we all want to see in the world finally happen,” said Ruth E. Hedges, CEO of Rise Up Crowdfunding LLC.

Rise Up Crowdfunding has also partnered with business organizations to introduce this to their members for possible investing and to refer their members to the funding portal as another way to raise capital. 

Learn more here:  Rise Up Crowdfunding.

The Coca‑Cola Company and its subsidiaries consider themselves leaders in supplier diversity and role models in the communities that we serve. We remain unwavering in our quest to maximize opportunities for diverse suppliers, furthering our promise to benefit and refresh everyone who is touched by our business. 

In 2020, this commitment to diverse suppliers and businesses resulted in $800 million spent across the entire supply chain. Spending continues to focus on existing and new partners—from warehousing and construction engineering to transportation and facilities management, IT, marketing, and media.