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For more, read part one and part two of our coverage of diversity and startups in Texas.

Texas has a and a sharply growing population. Those two factors have made the state an increasingly popular home for startups.

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But despite its impressive growth, Texas鈥檚 tech sector still has room for improvement when it comes to diversity. This story, which profiles minority entrepreneurs in Texas, is the third in a three-part SA国际传媒 News series looking at diversity in tech in Austin and the Lone Star State as a whole.

It鈥檚 important to note that this problem is not exclusive to Texas. Women lead just three percent of America鈥檚 venture capital-backed startups, and African-Americans are at the helm of only one percent, according to a 2015 White House. On top of that, only 17 percent of startups, venture-funded or not, are founded by women.

For this third article, I interviewed a trio of ethnically diverse startup founders about their experiences in an industry that鈥檚 of, quite simply, being too white.

Devin Baptiste, Founder and CEO of GroupRaise

, CEO of Houston-based social fundraising platform, is proud of his team鈥檚 ethnic diversity. Having headquarters in Houston 颅鈥� which, in recent years, has become the country鈥檚 city 鈥� has helped somewhat normalize his company鈥檚 situation. The company, which connects local groups with restaurants that give part of their sales to a charitable cause, 鈥渓ooks like the city鈥� they reside in, according to Baptiste. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to live in this area where diversity is real.鈥�

And it shows through his executive team. Founder and CEO Baptiste is African-American; , co-founder and head of business development, is of Guatemalan descent; , co-founder and head of marketing, is of Korean descent; and , co-founder and chief tenacity officer, is Caucasian.

Since its inception in 2011, GroupRaise has so far brought in about $1 million from, METRO Cash & Carry, out of Santiago, Chile,, and. The company has grown from 500 restaurant customers in July 2015 to more than 6,000 in 150 cities today.

According to Baptiste, his startup is 鈥渁lways dealing鈥� with the fact that its executive team 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 fit a classic demographic pattern for investors.鈥�

鈥淯nderstanding that drives our focus on building a really great business,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e are working to get people to recognize that the world will look different and that even if we don鈥檛 match a pattern they鈥檙e used to, we鈥檙e still building something great.鈥�

The biggest challenge he and his team faces, according to Baptiste, is that they simply don鈥檛 see many people who look like them in the startup world.

鈥淭hat just makes us really committed to sharing our story and experience with people of all backgrounds to show this can be a part of anyone鈥檚 story,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the end, investors really like charts that go up to the right no matter where you鈥檙e from or who you look like.鈥�

Vi Nguyen, CEO and Co-Founder of Homads

co-founded Austin-based , a real-estate platform for flexible term renting, in 2014. She鈥檚 learned a lot during that time about being an Asian American female startup founder.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been more subtle for me,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I cherish the people who aren鈥檛 worried about telling you what the problem is so you can fix it. I think sometimes people get offended too easily.鈥�

What Nguyen means by that is she welcomes constructive feedback.

For example, a mentor at one time had suggested she consider covering up her tattoo, as well as her undercut, when attending meetings.

鈥淚鈥檇 lived in my Austin bubble for a while,鈥� Nguyen told SA国际传媒 News. 鈥淏ut what he said made sense 鈥� that I needed to understand I was walking into meetings with mostly older white men who were used to investing in people who looked more like themselves.鈥�

Nguyen took the advice to heart.

鈥淚 saw a big difference when I went into meetings afterwards,鈥� she said. 鈥淧art of it may have just been the increased confidence. I鈥檓 not trying to hide who I am, but I鈥檓 trying to be more sensitive to my environment.鈥�

Nguyen said that even in high school, male coaches were not always comfortable with female athletes.

鈥淭hey treated us completely different,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 trying to be mean. They just couldn鈥檛 find a common ground. I think it鈥檚 similar in the tech sector where you just don鈥檛 have as many women.鈥�

And instead of focusing on her differences compared to other startup founders, Nguyen focuses on growing her company. Homads was one of the first participants in a cohort held by DivInc, a pre-accelerator that operates 12-week programs for underrepresented tech founders.

With the exception of a $30,000 Small Business Administration loan, her startup is bootstrapped. Nguyen is currently trying to raise $850,000 seed round.

鈥淚t鈥檚 true that people invest in people that look like them or remind them of them, especially in the early or seed stage when you don鈥檛 have as much traction,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 more about your credibility and who you are.鈥�

Kelli Thomas-Drake, President and Founder of MyPurpleFolder

After serving as a caregiver for her grandmother who was diagnosed with cancer, Kelli Thomas-Drake founded Dallas-based , a mobile healthcare app that connects patients鈥� records.

Despite having what she describes as a 鈥渒iller pitch deck鈥� and a developed technology, Thomas-Drake told SA国际传媒 News she is struggling to raise funds.

鈥淚 have seen younger white males with just a whisper of an idea and not nearly as advanced as my company get money thrown at them,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 feel like I have to prove myself 50 to 100 times more. Raising funds is like squeezing blood from a turnip.鈥�

Thomas-Drake, a UC-Berkeley grad, said she has always avoided blaming being a female and a minority for things not going her way in the past.

鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the only thing I can account for in this situation, because we are more than 鈥榝undable,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what else it could be.鈥�

Thomas-Drake is currently working to raise a $1 million seed round that she hopes to close on later this year or early next. Her company鈥檚 CEO is a white male in his 50s. Thomas-Drake believes having him join her in meetings helps open doors.

鈥淚 think, sometimes, without him being there, they (investors) probably wouldn鈥檛 give me the time of day,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e do notice body language changes when he鈥檚 speaking. He gets people to stand at more attention even though I present myself very well. It鈥檚 uncomfortable but we have a good enough relationship that we openly talk about it.鈥�

There鈥檚 no question that female founders face a greater challenge than male founders when it comes to raising money. Since 2010, for seed-stage funding, women-only founder teams have raised, on average, $82 for every $100 a male-founded team raises

In the end, Thomas-Drake said she is looking forward to making a difference and impact within healthcare 鈥渂ecause it shouldn鈥檛 be as intimidated and disjointing as it is.鈥�

鈥淚 look at myself as the Rocky of healthcare,鈥� she said.

The startup scene in Texas may have a long way to go in terms of growing its diversity. But with the success of entrepreneurs such as the ones mentioned above, minorities won鈥檛 be as much of a minority in the tech world鈥攁t least in Texas.