Award-winning Canadian choreographer, Laurieann Gibson, has joined forces with Los-Angeles based Cinedigm to launch the BOP (Born Out Of Passion) Network. BOP will be the only destination for 24/7 access to premier dance content, which includes documentaries, licensed movies, musicals, music videos and series. It will be the first multimedia streaming service offering an all-inclusive slate of global dance-related programming. The network will also feature scripted and non-scripted original content as well as dance tutorials led by Gibson, her peers, and other industry influencers. In an official statement – Chris McGurk, Chairman & CEO
Stage11 has raised a whopping $5.7M to help the likes of Snoop Dogg and Akon – so the moguls can monetize their music using NFTs. The company, founded by Jonathan Belolo, the co-owner of Scorpio Music, develops new landscapes for artists to have a creative outlet to engage with their fans through interactive performances and music worlds. According to PR Newswire, the seed round was led by the European venture capital fund, Otium Capital totaling $5.77 million. “As a gamer and sci-fi nerd, It feels like I’ve been dreaming about
Coinbase and UnitedMasters, a company that distributes music, have signed a deal to allow artists to receive their payments in cryptocurrencies. The Black-owned company, founded by Steve Stoutes, is now one of the first to offer, according to a report by Bloomberg. The partnership’s goal is to “empower independent artists by giving them transparency, equity, and control over their earnings.” Payments are set to be made through Coinbase’s payroll product. UnitedMasters stressed that with this new means of receiving payments, the music artists can now participate in a more equitable
Kave Bulambo, who grew up in South Africa before moving to Berlin, noticed the lack of diversity in tech in the European nation when she first landed a role in the sector. But it was when she realized that she also had just one Black engineer at her own start-up that she decided action seriously needed to be taken. That’s when she launched “Black in Tech Berlin,” a network surpassing more than 600 Black people in the tech and business sector – from founders, software engineers to designers. Before the
Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners is adding spatial LABS, a metaverse and blockchain-based tech incubator, to its growing list of crypto investments, according to a report from Billboard. Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Iddris Sandu, next year, sLABS will launch its first product, “LNQ,” a blockchain-enabled hardware platform that helps onboard young creators to the metaverse, according to widely shared reports. “Iddris has a conscious world view and a youth-centric vision that is innovative and refreshing to witness,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We share similar parallels in how we imagine impacting
An African startup that helps connect consumers’ bank accounts to financial applications has raised a $15 million Series A round. Tiger Global led Mono’s round. The firm also had participation from new investors Target Global, General Catalyst, and SBI Investment. New investors were joined by existing ones, including Entree Capital, Lateral Capital, Golden Palm Investments, Acuity VC, and Ingressive Capital, bringing Mono’s total raise to a little over $17.5 million since launching last year, reported TechCrunch. Launched in August 2020, the company streamlines various financial data in a single API for companies
Pinterest appointed Andrea Wishom, president of real estate company Skywalker Holdings and former Harpo Studios executive, to its board of directors back in August. The appointment made her Pinterest’s first Black board member and third female board member. Wishom’s appointment came following months of meetings with other potential candidates, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said in a statement at the time. He said Wishom stood out for several reasons. “She’s an expert in creating positive and inspirational content for global audiences and a passionate advocate for building a company culture of
Telkom has reportedly dropped Netflix Inc – meaning the app will no longer be available on the South African phone and internet company’s set-top box from October. Content Executive Wanda Mkhize announced that a deal between the parties had ended and would not be renewed. But other content partnerships will be announced in due course; she told Bloomberg. It’s not clear whether Netflix has plans to build a different route to consumers and existing subscribers in South Africa now that its relationship with Telkom has ended. The media has been
BITCON 2021‘s virtual event kicks off this Wednesday and the conference will feature some of the Black community’s tech icons – from cryptocurrency to cybersecurity. Arlan Hamilton, Judy Smith, Sherell Dorsey, Simon T.Bailey, and Kanika Tolver are among the list of speakers lined up to give away gems to those keen on trailblazing in the industry. A total of 3% of workers at the top 75 technology companies identified as Black and Black founders received just 3% of all US venture capital in 2020. BITCON hopes to change these numbers. The
Fiverr — an Israeli online freelancer platform —has awarded five Black start-up firms $24K through its Future Collective Fellowship Program to help expand their business. The business accelerator is a fellowship for Black entrepreneurs, and five businesses were selected for the program’s inaugural class, and each will receive $24,000. The program is also backed up by 1863 Ventures, a Black-led and D.C.-based nonprofit organization, and Maestra, a women of color-owned business strategy firm, according to Afrotech. “Fiverr’s purpose is to provide anyone, no matter their race, religion, background or beliefs, the opportunity
