December 30, 2022

Here Are POCIT’s Top 10 Articles Of 2022

What a year! Many of you who have been following our tech coverage closely have embarked on a journey that has been both stimulating and inspiring.

Over the past year, we’ve ventured into a world of immersive technology that has seen a popular AI platform takeover of the internet and new life formed on the metaverse. It is hard to predict what 2023 has in store for the world of technology, but it is bound to be a rollercoaster – so get strapped in! 

To commemorate the end of this year, here are the articles you couldn’t get enough of this year!

10. Serena Ventures Among 7 Black-Led VCs Joining Alphabet’s $100M Investment Program

Serena Williams, Serena Ventures

This has been a big year for Serena Williams. Shortly after she announced she would be retiring from tennis, her VC firm, Serena Ventures, was listed among those joining the Alphabet family as a recipient of their independent growth fund, Capital G. The fund aims to invest $100 million into Black-led VC firms to help them continue their work in supporting Black-owned businesses. Read more

9. Black Tech Prodigy Responds To Racist Incident With “Social Justice Superpower”

George Hofstetter

The story of tech entrepreneur George Hofstetter’s encounter with a raging racist became a topic of discussion for weeks.  The Oakland-based entrepreneur who traveled to study abroad in England decided to use his hacking skills to find out a racist who had sent him a threatening message. Read more

8. Racist NFT Creators At It Again: ‘Meta Slave’ Project Rebrands After Being Called Racist 

Meta Slave

A project titled “Meta Slave” received sparked widespread questions about online regulation after the images which featured Black people were distributed online. The collection, which was algorithmically generated, displayed Black people with surreally malformed accessories and teeth. It also included thousands of NFTs which cosplayed Black people priced at 0.01 ETH. Read more

7. Resilia Closes $35M Series B, Largest Raise Ever For A Solo Black Woman-Founded Tech Company 

Sevetri Wilson, founder of Resilia

Nearly two years after raising a groundbreaking $8 million in a Series A funding round, the founder and CEO of Resilia, Sevetri Wilson, raised the highest amount ever for a solo Black female-founded company. The company, which supports non-profit organizations and funders, has already experienced 300% annual revenue growth. Read more

6. TikTok Star Khaby Lame Signs Multiyear Deal With Hugo Boss

Earlier this year, Khaby Lame, TikTok’s second most-followed creator partnered with Hugo Boss for their “re-brand” campaign. The TikTok star featured in the campaign alongside Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, model Joan Smalls, rapper Future and others. The partnership also landed Lame his first runway debut at Milan Fashion Week. Read more.

5. 10 Inspirational Black British Women Who Code

To celebrate Black History month 2022, we decided to we highlight ten influential Black British women who code and break down barriers. The list featured a range of iconic women including, Charlene Hunter, Hosanna Hali, Temi Olukoko, Fey Ijaware, Buki Kekeré, Amina Aweis, Clamp Digital Agency, Sandra Okoli, Jennifer Opal and Lola Odelola. Read more.

4. Calendly Enters Forbes’ Cloud 100 List 

Tope Awotona founder of Calendly

Earlier this year, Forbes named Black-owned platform Calendly one of the world’s top private cloud companies.  The cloud scheduling platform, founded by Tope Awotona, has revolutionized how the world schedules. However, after launching in 2013, the platform has become a serious competitor valued at $3 billion. Read more

3. Meet the Black Woman Engineer Turning Plastic Into Bricks

Nzambie Matee

30-year-old Nzambie Matee is changing the way we choose to recycle.  The entrepreneur has created lightweight and low-cost building materials solely made of recycled plastics but with sand to make the bricks far more durable. In 2023, Mattee’s team recycled 50 tonnes of plastic and hopes to double that amount sometime soon. Read more

2. Nyla Hayes, The 12-Year-Old Who Sold Nearly $4M In NFTs, Becomes TIMEPieces’ First Artist-In-Residence

Nyla Hayes

12-year-old Nyla Hayes is the creator of the Long Neckie Collection, a non-fungible NFT collection worth about $3.4 million in digital currency. Hayes is breaking down double doors, the first as a Black woman and the second as a young person in tech. Her story has inspired many young people to follow in her footsteps as a young creator. Read more.  

1. No Black Influencers Made It Onto TikTok’s Highest Earnest List Despite Their Huge Following 

And our most popular story of the year is about TikTok sensation Khaby Lame. At the start of this year, Forbes released its list of the highest TikTok earners; unsurprisingly, none were Black. Despite Khaby Lame being labeled as the app’s most-followed social media personality later that year, the publication didn’t acknowledge him on the list. 

According to Forbes, Addison Rae took the top spot as highest paid TikTok creator at $5 million, followed by Charli D’Amelio at $4 million. However, despite Lame having 142.8 million and partnering with major brands, the publication failed to acknowledge him. 

Additionally, Lame has collaborated with a range of elite companies, from Hugo Boss to Binance and even Meta, to launch the metaverse. Forbes also crowned the social media star as one of TikTok’s top creators. The move sparked a broader debate around the visibility and opportunities Black TikTok creators get compared to white creators. 

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Kumba Kpakima

Kumba Kpakima is a reporter at POCIT. A documentary about the knife crime epidemic in the UK got her a nomination for the UK's #30toWatch Young Journalists of the Year.