DoorDash is taking more steps to support Black-owned businesses, pledging to match loans to those companies and easing some of its fees.
The initiatives announced Wednesday are in addition to the third-party delivery company’s earlier $1 million donation to support Black communities and businesses. They come amid a national discussion about race sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.
DoorDash's loan program aims to help improve Black-owned businesses' access to capital by matching funds from Kiva, a nonprofit lending company. DoorDash has established a $150,000 revolving loan fund to support the program, the company said. The Kiva loans are crowdsourced and come with a 0% interest rate and no fees.
The company will also ease some fees to help Black-owned business partners, including $0 delivery fees for customers who order from them through the end of the year and free sign-up with no commissions for 30 days for independent Black-owned restaurants.
DoorDash is also updating its mobile app to highlight Black-owned businesses who opt in. A new feature will make them searchable using the keyword “Black-owned” and add a banner to their store page. Black-owned businesses will also be highlighted in in-app carousels in some markets.
The company said searches for Black-owned businesses on its app were up 275 times in June compared to the previous month.
Last month, Uber Eats waived delivery fees for customers who order from Black-owned restaurants through the end of the year and donated $1 million to the Equal Justice Initiative and Center for Policing Equity.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.