PALO ALTO, CA, March 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Latino Business Action Network (LBAN), in collaboration with the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), released the 11th Annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) Research Report, unveiling groundbreaking data on the latest trends in Latino entrepreneurship across the U.S. The findings will be presented at the 2026 State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) Summit, a free and open-to-all event that brings together over 1,000 attendees at Stanford GSB, including business owners, investors, corporations, government officials, and academics, among others, creating opportunities for professional networking and collaboration.
Over the past decade, the data have consistently shown a clear pattern: Latino entrepreneurs are starting businesses at a faster rate than the national average and creating jobs at a significant pace. As a result, Latino-owned firms are key drivers of economic expansion in the United States. Expanding access to capital, networks, and growth opportunities will be critical to sustaining broader U.S. business formation, job creation, and economic competitiveness in the years ahead.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1) Latino-owned Firms Continue to Drive Net New Business and Job Growth. The number of Latino-owned firms is expanding faster than White-owned firms, generating a larger share of net new businesses and jobs despite starting from a smaller base.
- Net New Businesses: Between 2017 and 2023, the number of LOBs grew 48%, adding 180K net new firms, while WOBs declined by 140K (-3%).
- Job Creation: Employment followed a similar pattern: LOBs added 976K jobs (+29%), vs. 658K jobs (+1%) for WOBs.
Overall, Latino entrepreneurs added more net new firms and jobs than businesses owned by any other major racial/ethnic group. Revenue for LOBs also rose 68%, from $495 billion to $832 billion, reflecting rapid economic impact alongside firm and employment growth.
In fact, during this six-year period, Latino entrepreneurs created more firms and jobs than any other major racial or ethnic group in the United States.
Put differently, without Latino entrepreneurs, the U.S. economy would have experienced a net decline in the number of businesses. Removing Latino-owned scaled businesses from the equation would mean 180,000 fewer businesses, nearly one million fewer jobs, and $832 billion less in business revenue contributing to economic activity. When accounting for the many other Latino-owned single-person firms as well, the overall economic impact would be even greater. As Latino entrepreneurs continue to play an outsized role in economic expansion, expanding access to capital and growth opportunities will be critical to sustaining broader U.S. business formation and job creation.
2) LOBs Are Driving Business Creation in the Nation’s Largest States. LOBs are playing a particularly important role in business creation within the nation’s largest state economies. California, Texas, Florida, and New York together account for more than one-third of U.S. GDP and house the largest populations and employer firms. Between 2017 and 2023, LOBs grew faster in firm creation and contributed more net new businesses than WOBs. LOBs saw a greater growth rate in the number of employees compared to WOBs in CA, FL, TX. In California and Florida, Latino-owned businesses accounted for 61% and 56% of all net new firms, respectively. In Texas, they represented 44% of new firms.
The pattern is even more striking in New York, where the total number of businesses declined by 15K firms overall. During this same period, LOBs added more than 6K businesses, offsetting roughly 40% of the state’s total net losses, while WOBs saw either net declines or modest gains (e.g., 3% in FL).
These trends show that Latino entrepreneurs are not only expanding businesses nationwide, but they are also playing a central role in sustaining economic dynamism in the country’s largest state economies. In markets that account for a significant share of U.S. GDP, LOBs are driving a disproportionate share of new business creation and employment growth. As these states continue to shape the trajectory of the national economy, the growth of Latino-owned businesses will remain a critical force behind overall business formation, job creation, and economic vitality.
3) Funding Gaps Persist and Widen with Larger Loan Requests. Consistent with findings from the past decade, LOBs continue to face persistent funding gaps relative to WOBs despite their strong growth and economic contributions. Latino entrepreneurs apply for financing/credit at lower rates and are less likely to receive full funding/credit, with disparities widening as loan amounts increase and varying by lender. While both groups primarily rely on credit cards, banks, and credit unions, LOBs are more likely to apply to multiple financing sources within a year.
- Less likely to receive full funding: LOBs were less likely to receive all the requested funding for loans between $50,000-$249,000, with the largest gap occurring for requests of $1 million or more; only 22% of LOBs received full funding compared with 45% of WOBs.
- Receive less transparency about the criteria on which funding decisions are made: LOBs are also more likely to report that denial feedback lacks specific reasons or clear next steps (77% vs. 67%). While feedback is generally viewed as helpful, LOBs express a stronger need for clearer funding criteria, one-on-one consultation, and actionable guidance to improve future applications.
4) Latinos Are Over-Indexing in Tech, Yet Receive Less Than 2% of VC Funding, and Early-Stage Funding Is Declining.
Latino entrepreneurs are increasingly active in high-growth technology sectors, yet venture capital funding has not kept pace with this growth.
One in four LOBs (26%) operate in tech-centric sectors, up 7 percentage points since 2021 and slightly higher than WOBs (20%). LOBs are active across AI, cybersecurity, fintech, and e-commerce at rates comparable to their peers. Although tech-centric LOBs tend to be younger and smaller - 24% are under two years old, and 67% report revenues under $1 million - they report profit margins comparable to WOBs. Internationally operating LOBs are especially tech-centric (42% vs. 35% of WOBs), highlighting the link between technology adoption and global engagement.
Despite this growing presence in technology, Latino founders continue to receive less than 2% of venture capital funding, highlighting a persistent gap between market participation and access to growth capital.
- Capital is Concentrated in Later-Stage Companies: In 2025, Latino founders posted a $6 million median venture capital deal size, exceeding the U.S. median. However, much of this capital is concentrated in later-stage companies, signaling that larger checks are increasingly going to fewer firms.
- Early-Stage Funding is Declining: At the same time, early-stage funding has declined sharply. Pre-seed and seed market share fell from 2.6% in 2020 to 0.6% in 2025, signaling a narrowing pipeline for the next generation of scalable Latino firms.
If this decline in early-stage investment continues, it could limit the long-term pipeline of growth-stage firms, effectively constraining one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. business and job-creation landscape.
5) LOBs Expand Internationally Earlier and Profitably Despite Younger Firm Age and Smaller Size. Nearly half of U.S.-based LOBs (49%) operate internationally, compared to 42% of WOBs. Across both groups, firms with operations beyond the U.S. report higher median profit margins than U.S.-only firms.
LOBs, however, are not waiting to reach large scale before expanding abroad, suggesting that international engagement is an early growth strategy rather than a late-stage milestone. Cultural ties, social connections to their family’s country of origin, and opportunities to leverage talent and partnerships abroad may further support this early international expansion.
However, international operations also bring additional challenges. Although inflation is the top concern for both internationally operating and U.S.-only LOBs/WOBs, a larger share of U.S.-only businesses report it as a challenge. Taxes and government regulations, along with tariffs and trade restrictions, are the next most frequently cited obstacles, with a larger share of internationally operating businesses reporting these challenges than domestic-only firms.
- Recent immigration enforcement issues also impacted both groups; however, LOBs are three times more likely to cite this as a challenge. Recent pulse survey results from January 2026 indicate that this disparity related to immigration enforcement persists.
6) Latino Entrepreneurs Are Actively Pursuing Growth Strategies. LOBs demonstrate a strong growth orientation and are actively pursuing strategies to scale. Compared to WOBs, LOBs are more likely to implement nine out of ten growth strategies examined in the study (e.g., 38% report considering an acquisition compared with 26% of WOBs), signaling strong strategic intent to scale.
These strategies generally fall into two categories:
- Expanding a firm’s reach (e.g., entering new markets/geographies)
- Changing how the business operates (e.g., forming partnerships/pursuing acquisitions)
These patterns show that Latino entrepreneurs are not only starting businesses at higher rates but are also actively positioning their companies for expansion and long-term growth, reflecting a strong engagement in a growth-oriented mindset and initiatives.
Access the full research report: www.lban.us/research
Marian Garcia Latino Business Action Network (LBAN) (408) 384-9389 marian@lban.us