Nex Cubed has announced that the Black-owned investment firm is launching the HBCU Founders Fund — a $40 million accelerator investing in startups with a founder from a historically Black college or university.

Nex Cubed currently has a pre-accelerator program at many HBCUs to help graduates secure funding. Following the program's success, the company formed its own 501(c), and enlisted partners, including AT&T, Mastercard, and Verizon, to expand to more than 70 HBCUs.

“We still hadn’t addressed the fact of funding, and that was still a gap that needed to be filled,” Nex Cubed CEO Marlon Evans told TechCrunch in an interview. “That’s what led us to launch this fund, where we hope to serve as a catalyst for other investors to recognize that there’s a tremendous amount of talent at HBCUs.”

Costco Wholesale has also invested $5 million in the fund as an anchor investor, according to an article from TechCrunch.

“We are proud to partner with the HBCU Founders Fund to help foster a more inclusive venture capital environment and accelerate Black entrepreneurship,” Richard Galanti, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Costco Wholesale, told TechCrunch.

Evans said he hopes to create a Silicon Valley-type environment at HBCUs, which he says lacks the social and economic resources necessary to foster and launch businesses at scale.

He said he hoped to invest in 20 companies per year and added that the company would distribute the funding over four years.

Applications are now open.

“The innovators of tomorrow are coming from these communities,” Evans told TechCrunch. “We’re investing in the next generation of founders.”