For the first time in history, the FDA has approved a device that allows people to screen for cervical cancer from home. Teal Health launched the Teal Wand, a prescription device that lets patients self-collect samples and mail them to labs to receive the same testing that they would receive from a professional doctor. In January, it was announced that Serena Ventures, Williams’ VC firm, participated in a $10 million seed funding round for Teal Health. How will the kit work? Once a user requests a kit, a vetting process to confirm eligibility is
Clarence O. Smith, one of the founders of Essence Magazine, passed away on Monday, April 21, at the age of 92. Smith spent over three decades at Essence Communications, serving as president and overseeing the company’s advertising and marketing. The New York Times reported that Smith resided in Yonkers, NY, and passed away in a hospital after a short illness, according to his niece Kimberly Fonville Boyd. When reflecting on Smith’s death, Susan L. Taylor, the magazine’s former Editor-in-Chief, told Essence, “He shifted hearts, minds—and investment choices—in the conventional advertising world. With the
Black Unicorn Factory (BUF), a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has officially become the most prominent Black-owned venture capital firm in US history by the number of startups funded and total equity issued. The firm has provided over $500 million in alternative investment capital by backing over 150 early-stage companies across various industries. “Cash or other consideration” BUF differs from other firms that rely solely on cash-based investing, as it leverages non-traditional, SEC-compliant methods rooted in the concept of “cash or other consideration” as allowed under exemptions like Reg CF,
A new dataset in the form of maps highlighted how many African workers are indirectly employed in the tech sector. These employees tend to do content moderation, customer service, and data annotation for AI models, as well as other jobs. Tech firms that provide outsourced digital labor for big tech companies tend to be discreet about their staff. This allows tech companies to distance themselves legally and ethically from their employees, experts explained to Rest of World. African workforces building AI The map shows the flow of data and knowledge
Aruwa Capital Management, a Nigerian investment firm, has raised $35 million towards its $40 million target for its second fund. The firm is set to reach its final close of $50 million, with a hard cap of $60 million within the year. The total fund exceeds Aruawa Capital’s first fund, which closed in 2022 at just over $20 million. The second fund includes new and returning investors such as the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), Visa Foundation, global family offices and HNIs, and new LPs such as the Bank
A new data set, SHADES, has launched to help developers tackle AI bias, such as harmful stereotypes and other forms of discrimination, that appear in AI chatbot responses across several languages, according to MIT Technology Review. Margaret Mitchell, chief ethics scientist at AI startup Hugging Face, led the international team that built the data set. This spotlights how large language models (LLMs) internalize stereotypes and assesses if they perpetuate those biases. Spotting biases in AI SHADES differs from other AI models, as most only work on models trained in English.
Are you a techie or a founder? Are you based in New York? More importantly, are you free on the 5th of June? If you tick all those boxes, we proudly invite you to our ‘Founder Stories,’ an event bringing techies together. This unique event, powered by Braze, will include a robust lineup of founders breaking barriers and transforming the tech industry. Founder Stories is part of New York Tech Week, a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Be ready to engage in honest
Khloe Kardashian has announced the launch of her new food company, Khloud, and its first product, protein popcorn. Its investors include Serena Ventures, William Morris Endeavor (WME), and Shrug Capital. TechCrunch reported that Kris Jenner and Kardashian hoped to raise $10 million for a business called Khloud in December. K5 Global also invested in the brand, and its associate partner, Jessica Bixby, said the company went on to raise an oversubscribed $12 million round. Popcorn made with protein The Kardashians came up with the idea of Khloud after she struggled
A new e-commerce platform dedicated exclusively to Black-owned spirits is up and running. UrFriendCharles.com is home to over 150 products, with plans to add 100 more by the end of the year. The website offers users a curated experience for consumers seeking to purchase liquor from Black-owned businesses, as stated in a press release. Spotlighting Black-owned brands UrFriendCharles.com was founded by Charles Everett, a content creator and advocate with a background in supply chain management. With a cumulative following of over 100,000 on Instagram and TikTok, Everett is known for
Kofa, a Ghanaian-based energy tech company, has secured $8.1 million in a pre-Series A funding round to expand its battery-swapping network across Africa. The funding round, which comprised a mix of equity ($3.25 million), debt ($4.315 million), and $590,000 in grants, was led by E3 Capital and Injaro Investment Advisors, with support from the Shell Foundation and the UK Government’s Transforming Energy Access platform (TEA). Noteworthy European investors, such as Richard Thwaites, founder of Penso Power, also participated in the funding round. Who founded Kofa? The company was founded in 2022 by Erik
