By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bank of America Corp on Thursday said it has committed more than $500 million in equity investments to funds led by minority and women entrepreneurs, more than doubling from its initial commitment of $200 million.

The bank has committed equity to more than 150 funds, which to date have invested in over 1,000 companies that span 40 states, it said.

These companies are led by 1,500 diverse entrepreneurs and employ over 21,000 people.

"As a company, we looked at how to support women and diverse entrepreneurs," Tram Nguyen, global head of Strategic and Sustainable Investments at Bank of America, told Reuters.

"Capital to under-resourced entrepreneurs has the effect of unlocking their potential to grow their businesses locally and to create economic opportunity," Nguyen said.

Typically these fund managers have the experience of having founded businesses before or experience investing as part of a larger fund. Now they're taking that experience and going off to start their own fund, she said.

One of the funds is Zeal Capital Partners, founded by Nasir Qadree, which provides founders with the resources they need to scale their business to the next level of growth.

It is an early investor in Esusu, one of the few Black-owned unicorns, the statement said. Unicorn refers to unlisted companies that have a valuation of $1 billion.

U.S. banking giants have expanded their racial-equity pledges in the years after 2020, when the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a police officer sparked global protests.

"Each time we support a minority or women-led fund, they in turn support diverse entrepreneurs, which ultimately helps us toward achieving our goal to advance racial equality and economic opportunity," Nguyen said.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Mark Porter)