This year’s top stories reflect the challenges, opportunities, and dynamic changes in the tech industry and broader society. Unsurprisingly, many of these years’ top stories concern the boom in generative AI, from developing the “BlackGPT” to concerns around the historical and present-day harms and philosophies underpinning AI developments. We’ve also shared stories of Black innovation, Latine entrepreneurship, workplace wins and challenges, collective triumph, and personal tragedy. Here are the ten stories that resonated with you, our POCIT readers, the most this year. 10. Cash App’s Appeal in the Black Community
Orka, a Chicago-based health tech firm, is redefining the hearing aid industry with its innovative Orka hearing aid. Founded in 2018 by Ben Sun, Chauncey Lu, Linkai Li, and Xinke Liu, Orka aims not only to enhance hearing but also to make hearing aids as user-friendly and desirable as AirPods. Birthed from personal experience During a family visit to China in 2017, Ben Sun, CEO, observed his grandmother struggling with her hearing. He told Forbes that after spending $1000 on hearing aids for her, she stopped using them after a
This article was originally published by Carla C. Whyte on Medium. I transitioned from classroom teaching to a remote role in Customer Success in approximately three months. My role was ‘no-code’, meaning I did not need to learn to code in order to be considered for it. I’m naming that my role was ‘no-code’ because there is still some confusion for many people not yet in “tech”, that “tech” is a role. By itself, “tech” is not a role — it is an industry. Much like other industries — healthcare, automotive,
Latimer, the innovative AI platform named after the African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, has taken a significant step towards making generative AI more inclusive and historically accurate. The platform announced an exclusive content license agreement with the New York Amsterdam News, one of the nation’s most influential and oldest continuously published Black newspapers. Historically Accurate Training Data Amsterdam News has been a pioneering force in Black journalism since 1909. The newspaper is also known for its innovative approaches and significant milestones, such as being the first Black newspaper unionized in all departments.
BlackRhino VR, a leading Kenyan extended reality tech company, has launched MediAR. The groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) platform aims to revolutionize how creators engage with AR technology, empowering them within Africa’s burgeoning creative economy. Empowering Creatives, Democratizing Tech BlackRhino VR was founded by in 2015 by medical student-turned-filmmaker Michael Ilako and deejay-turned-brand manager Brian Afande. The company’s no-code AR cloud editor and publishing platform, MediAR, is positioned as Africa’s first. As a no-code platform, creatives can produce AR content without any previous coding or programming experience. MediAR features an intuitive
London-based fintech startup Jenesys AI has secured $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. Founded in late 2022 by Nicolai Thomson and Dr Tosin Dairo, Jenesys elevates the role of bookkeepers and accountants with a conversational AI named “Jack”. The investment round was led by Twin Path Ventures, with contributions from Fuel Ventures, Antler, Hatcher+ in Singapore, and seasoned angel investors from the US and UK. Meet Jack: The conversational AI Jenesys AI’s flagship product is “Jack,” a conversational AI designed to support finance teams. Integrated with platforms like Slack
“DEI must DIE,” Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, boldly declared in a Twitter/X post on December 15. “The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination.” The South African Tesla and Twitter/X owner doubled down the following day, adding, “‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ are propaganda words for racism, sexism and other -isms. This is just as morally wrong as any other racism and sexism.” Who benefits from DEI? Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives aim to rectify historical and ongoing discrimination by providing equal access and opportunities
Lagos-based fashion and beauty e-commerce platform Maka has raised $2.65 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. Other contributors include Palm Drive Capital, angel investor Jonathan Shipman, and executives from delivery platform Wolt. Maka Maka empowers trusted creators to live-stream and sell directly to their audiences. The platform allows shoppers to purchase through live-streams, on-demand videos, or online catalogs. Founded in 2021 by Diana Owusu-Kyereko, former CEO of Jumia Ghana and ex-CCO of Jumia Kenya, Maka originated as an interactive social commerce platform. During the
Twin Health has secured $50 million in funding for its AI-driven personalized healthcare tech that aims to prevent and reverse chronic health diseases like diabetes. Temasek led the Series D funding round with the participation of existing investors ICONIQ Growth, Sofina, Peak XV, and Helena. Twin Health was co-founded in 2018 by Jahangir Mohammed (CEO), also the founder of Jasper and Kineto Wireless, and Terry Poon (CTO). A whole-body digital twin Central to Twin Health’s mission is the Whole Body Digital Twin™ – an innovative, AI-driven healthcare platform that composes
Black professionals are now being promoted into managerial roles at rates reminiscent of 2019, a recent McKinsey & Co. study has revealed. The findings signal a concerning erosion of progress made in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and widespread corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments. The Erosion of Progress The study, which analyzed promotion rates from over 270 companies employing over 10 million people, paints a disheartening picture. Promotions for Black professionals, especially women, have fallen significantly. In 2022, for every 100 men of all races promoted into
