The number of Latino-owned businesses is growing at a fast pace. In California and Florida, they're making up the majority of newly created firms, according to a recent report. A lot of these companies are tech-focused but lack access to venture capital. Marketplace senior economics contributor Chris Farrell has been digging into the numbers and joined Marketplace’s Nova Safo. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.Nova Safo: So, what did you find out about Latino entrepreneurs?Chris Farrell: Well, you know, I was really struck by the scale and the scope of Latino entrepreneurs. I mean, Latino-owned businesses rose by nearly 48% between 2017 and 2023. By the way, at the same time, the ranks of white-owned businesses dropped by nearly 3%. So, about half of Latino-owned businesses operate internationally. And taken all together, they've created more net new firms and more jobs than any other ethnic or racial group. And these insights, they're drawn from the world's longest title: The 11th Annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship Report by the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business.Safo: Academics with long titles, I've never heard of such a thing. Farrell: Shocking, I know. Safo: I understand a quarter of these businesses are in tech. Are there other areas of concentration?Farrell: Absolutely, there's concentration in certain sectors like construction, accommodation, transportation. Still, what stood out to me is how big the tech-centric Latino-owned businesses have become — companies like Stoke Therapeutics. It's a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.Isabel Aznarez: One of the reasons why I like to talk about my story and founding Stoke, and give myself as an example, is because I would love to inspire more Latinos, more Latinas to pursue that career, to pursue that career path.Farrell: So, Isabel Aznarez is head of research and co-founder of Stoke, and both she and her co-founder were born in Uruguay, and the company's platform technology is named Tango after the dance, and it targets the underlying cause of severe genetic diseases. And the current focus is on treating Rett syndrome. It's a devastating disease that starts with severe seizures among children.Safo: All right, well, that in particular sounds like a very capital-intensive business. How was her experience raising money for her company? Farrell: OK, so the founders — they started the company in 2014, and it's now publicly traded, has more than 200 employees, but she remembers that in those early years of fundraising with the venture capitalists, she didn't have many peers in the room.Aznarez: What I did observe at that time is that very often I was not just the only Latino, Latina in the room, but I was the only woman in the room.Safo: Well, the report pointed out that existing networks are important for raising money early on. Has access to capital for Latino entrepreneurs improved at all in the years since her experience?Farrell: So she says a little bit, but this report emphasizes the persistent barriers to capital, including, by the way, getting a mere sliver of early-stage venture capital funding — less than 2%. By the way, I just want to throw in one last observation: While bigger companies weren't particularly affected, federal immigration enforcement is a "top five most impactful challenge" for smaller Latina-owned businesses.