15 New Black-Owned Businesses Will Join Braze’s Founders Program

American cloud-based software company, Braze, has announced that they will be accepting applications to their Founders Program at the start of 2023. 

What is Braze’s Black Founders Program?

Braze’s Black Founders program, which the company first launched in 2020, has made excelling simpler for Black founders.

Since launching in 2020, the platform has provided 22 companies free access to its comprehensive customer engagement platform. Fast forward to today, more than 20 Black-owned startups are participating in the program and have greatly benefited from the platform’s technology. 

To build on the success of the program, Braze has decided to expand the program to introduce 15 new founders. Over 12 months, the founders will be able to leverage free the company’s customer engagement platform to accelerate their growth. According to the creators, their overall mission is to eliminate the odds stacked against Black technologists and entrepreneurs. This program is a testament to that. 

“By enabling greater access to tech resources, Braze is committed to promoting diverse industry representation and opportunity. We’re proud of how the program has grown, and we look forward to further expanding our Tech for Black Founders community,” said Rod McLeod, VP of Social Impact at Braze. 

“We will remain accountable for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry and plan to expand further efforts supporting underserved and underrepresented communities in the year ahead.” 

The tech founder inequality is real. 

Founder inequality in the tech sector is a real problem. According to reports, only 1% of venture-funded startup founders are Black. Additionally, Black investors make up only 3% of the VC industry, contributing to the lack of funding given to Black-owned businesses. 

Recent figures by Crunchbase also show that funding for Black founders is steadily declining. For example, in Q2 last year, Black founders received $400 million less in funding. In conclusion, less money is being given to Black entrepreneurs to help them invest in the essential parts of their businesses. 

Initiatives like Braze’s Founder program are essential in creating a diverse tech space. So far, 16 US-based, Black-founded businesses have taken advantage of the free access to Braze technology and seen a drastic difference in their business trajectory. 

To find out more about the program, click here.