Ethnic minorities are driving America’s startup boom

Feb 12th 2026|4 min read

Kris Hale founded Dope Pieces, an artisanal puzzlemaker, in 2018. But the company really took off, she says, after the covid-19 lockdowns sent people “puzzle crazy”. They also prompted millions of other Americans to launch startups, and today the boom is still going. The Census Bureau counted a record-breaking 5.7m applications to establish new businesses in 2025 (see chart 1). That poses some puzzles for economists. Why have entrepreneurs been so busy since the pandemic? And why has the surge been almost entirely among those who, like Ms Hale, are in ethnic minorities?