Fearless Fund co-founder Arian Simone says the Atlanta-based venture capital firm has not been deterred from helping marginalized business owners after ending its legal battle with conservative organization American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER).

The group, founded by Edward Blum, filed a lawsuit in August 2023, arguing that the grant program, designed to specifically help Black women-owned ventures, violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Fearless Fund was founded with the mission of giving Black, Asian, and Latina entrepreneurs access to capital that they are systemically shut out of. Women of color business owners are largely underrepresented, making up less than one percent of the recipients of venture capital funding.

The fund secured an early victory with an October 2023 injunction allowing them to disburse a final $20,000 grant. AAER appealed the ruling, and in June, a panel of judges ruled to suspend the program, noting that if the case progressed to the Supreme Court, Fearless Fund would likely lose.

On Wednesday (Sept. 11), the firm, which was an early investor in the uber successful Slutty Vegan franchise, agreed to end its Strivers program as part of a settlement reached with the conservative group. On Friday (Sept. 13), Simone appeared on “CBS Mornings,” where she expressed that the firm had not suffered a defeating blow in the legal battle.

“This is definitely a win for us. It was actually my idea,” the businesswoman said. “In the big scheme of things, we deploy millions of dollars. The one grant program that was in this case had already been at its conclusion when we got sued. There was only one $20,000 grant left to award. All the money from that program had already been deployed,” she added.

Simone further noted, “If we have to forgo that one grant to stay in business, to deploy millions, that is definitely a win.” Since its inception in 2019, Fearless Fund has poured more than $26 million into ventures looking to scale. Some of their corporate partners have included Bank of America and JPMoran Chase & Co.

The VC firm continued to make investments and deploy grants to deserving businesswomen amid legal proceedings, most recently at their Fearless Moguls event during Labor Day weekend.

As for the decision to not pursue a ruling from the nation’s highest court, Simone said, “I think the writing is already on the wall with their current rulings, [if] a Supreme Court ruling that were to take place not in our favor, this would’ve [not only] shut us down out of business but every single minority-based funding program for women as a whole sex, and people of color as a whole. The consequence of that is too big.”

The philanthropist told the hosts that it was “unfortunate that anybody would view this as something wrong or illegal. Clearly, the U.S. Federal District [Court] thought it was just fine, which is why they granted us the right to continue for that one grant left.”

Simone also reiterated that the fund is unwavering in its mission to provide capital to its targeted entrepreneurs, announcing that Fearless Fund launched a new program. “Now we have a debt loan program. Any entrepreneur that is pretty much in business for a year, [have] $50,000 [in annual revenue], [are] under resourced, of course, and has a credit score of 600 can apply for the program — this is for men and women.”

The loans range in value from $5,000 to $250,000 with flexible terms from 1-5 years and interest rates that start as low as 8.49 percent. For more information and to apply, click here. As for the future, Arian said that lawmakers are an integral part of making long-lasting changes.

“Attorneys and judges are only doing one thing: They are ruling and judging according to how they interpret the law,” she explained. “We need the lawmakers and the legislators to put laws in place that protect the right to fund marginalized communities, so everyone can achieve the American dream.”

Watch the full “CBS Mornings” interview below.