This is the question being posed by LIT Entrepreneurship & Innovation researcher Munmun Saha, who has first-hand experience of the challenges faced by minority-group business founders.  Munmun is building on LIT’s entrepreneurship research base in investigating why only 9pc of women believe they have equal opportunities to men to raise funding, with 17pc of black, 7pc of Asian and 4pc of mixed-race start-up leaders believing equal opportunities exist regardless of background.  “Understanding the nature and activities of such enterprises, and identifying the main growth-enablers and inhibitors is crucial if we are to create an environment truly conducive to growth-oriented minority-led businesses”, believes Munmun.

The research, being conducted in a collaborative manner with LEO, Limerick, Shannon, Ennis and Tipperary Chambers of Commerce, Enterprise Ireland and LIT’s Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre will have implications for government and business development agencies in understanding and overcoming the inhibitors underpinning the establishment and growth patterns of minority-owned enterprises.