Entrepreneurs Daa’iyah Fogle, a Claflin University alumnus, and Malcolm Lee, a graduate of Virginia Union University, are the winners of the NBA Foundation’s first-ever pitch competition in partnership with Black Girl Ventures. The joint competition, held in Cleveland, allowed college-aged entrepreneurs from HBCUs across the US to participate and pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The entrepreneurs eligible to participate in the competition were all Black Girl Ventures’ NextGen Program members. The scheme was created to support the next generation of Black and brown business leaders attending
YouTube has officially opened grant applications for the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund Class of 2023. The $100 million funds will amplify and nurture Black voices in the creator community. The grant program, which the video platform first launched in 2020, was primarily designed to help support and nurture Black creators and artists, from musicians and lawyers to gamers and fitness instructors. The scheme has welcomed over 300 grantees from the United States, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria in just over two years. The program has not
After shooting his music video “House I Built in the metaverse, Snoop Dogg has decided to explore a series of new ventures. According to a tweet by trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis, Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, applied for new trademarks for his new digital cannabis project. The musician filed a claim under the brand names “UNCLE SNOOP” and “UNCLE SNOOP’s.” The virtual business will provide various products, including virtual clothing, headwear, footwear, energy drinks, and pre-rolled hemp cigarettes. Users can also purchase virtual cannabis and downloadable cannabis products authenticated
Mary J Blige has teamed up with medical tech company Hologic for her upcoming Good Morning Gorgeous tour. The singer will grace the stage with R&B singer Queen Naija and Grammy-award-winning artist Ella Mai. She will also be dedicating the show to raising awareness about Black women’s health. The Good Morning Gorgeous tour, which Hologic will present in partnership with The Black Promoters collective, is set to kick off on Saturday, September 17. The journey, which will begin in Greensboro, is expected to hit 23 cities across North America, including
African technology startup, Theeper, known for creating technology for businesses to support fast, direct, and efficient transactions, has raised $2.1M in seed funding. The funding round, which Raba Partnership led, included VC fintech company Rali_cap Ventures, BYLD, and leading African fintech Chipper Cash and Stitch. Theeper, co-founded by Kosisochukwu Chike Ononye and Michael’ Trojan’ Okoh in 2021, is located at the crossroads of data and finance. They work directly with businesses to address the difficulty of transferring money from one fintech wallet to another fintech. According to Theeper, its API
TikTok user Natasha (@tashathecaptain) worked as a tech lead at a drink distribution company. She helped create new systems to help support drivers who may have experienced technical issues traveling across the country. After three years, she decided to resign after feeling overworked, underpaid, and a lack of recognition for some of the new initiatives she had implemented and created to help build the company. After attending her first-ever tech conference in Colorado, Natasha was taken aback by the lack of diversity. After realizing she was the only Black woman
The community-led startup Afropolitan, also known as the company behind “The Year of Return” event in Ghana, has raised $2.1 million (£1.8 million) in pre-seed funding to bring its vision to life, with Srinivasan being one of its investors. The funding round, which saw African-based VC firms Atlantica Ventures and Microtraction participate, also included angel investors Balaji Srinivasan, Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund, and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji of Future Africa. Afropolitan, co-founded by Eche Emole and Chika Uwazie in 2016, works to create community-led events for Africans and those in the
Nigerian health tech startup, Healthtracka, has raised $1.5 million in its first official funding stage. The funding round, which was hosted by Africa-focused VC Ingressive Capital and US-based venture fund Hustle Fund, also included Angel investors, Flying Doctors, and Alumni Angel Alliance. Healthtracka, which was co-founded by Victor Amusan and Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson in May 2021, works with lab partners to help detect early cancer patients. The organization has set up a website that allows people to book lab tests online and get their results back within 48 hours. “As a
The Black Founders Matter venture fund recently announced the introduction of the 25 by 25 Pledge, which encourages venture capitalists to commit to investing a quarter of their funds into BIPOC women founders by the year 2025. The pledge also requires VC firms to have 25% of their staff be BIPOC women, believing the increase in diversity behind the scenes will help pivot more deal flow into marginalized communities. Campaigners have been demanding greater diversity in tech for years and Crunchbase data published earlier this year revealed BIPOC women are
