by Colin Kirkland
Source: www.mediapost.com, May 2024
Showcasing a new focus on entrepreneurship, Pinterest has expanded its Creator Inclusion Fund –– now simply called the “Inclusion Fund” — beyond creators from underrepresented communities to include small businesses, independent publishers and boutique creator agencies.
In collaboration with Shopify’s Build Black and Native program, Pinterest has decided to invite small business owners from or who serve underrepresented backgrounds to apply to the Inclusion Fund, marking a departure from the program’s sole focus on content creators.
Pinterest says that the program will “upskill” these entrepreneurs and content producers in the US and Canada within the BIPOC, Disability, LGBTQIA+ and plus-size community with resources to optimize organic content and growth on the platform.
Originally announced in 2021 across the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil, the fund began with $500,000 then added $1.2 million more in 2022 to offer participants support via both financial and educational resources.
To date, the company has invested over $3.3 million in the quarterly accelerator program and has hosted more than 150 participants across the globe.
The company wants its image and video-sharing platform to become a bigger space to explore, discover and purchase products.
According to Pinterest, 61% of users say they spend more than they expect by shopping on the platform, while merchants who upload their catalogs to Pinterest say they have seen up to a 90% increase in product saves and a 30% increase in attributed checkouts.
The Inclusion program takes place across six weeks, coaching founders on how to best use the platform to leverage their organic content to increase value for their brand, such as connecting their Shopify storefront to a Pinterest business account.
“Shopify will serve as an industry expert throughout the program assisting in selecting the final merchant recipients and offering industry expertise through a training session,” the company says.
Pinterest will also offer recipients with one-to-one educational resources and training, mentorship, monetary stipends in the form of cash and ad credits, in addition to a one-year paid subscription to content scheduling platforms.
Pinterest says it plans to expand this new iteration of the program soon to other countries including Brazil, India, France, and Argentina.
