Mariam Jimoh, the founder of African and Caribbean goods and foods online delivery service Oja has announced the digital supermarket is shutting down. Oja – Digital Supermarket In 2020, British Nigerian Mariam Jimoh launched Oja, which means market in Yoruba, as the UK’s first ethnic digital supermarket focusing on African and Caribbean goods. After struggling to find the Nigerian food she grew up with in her local supermarket chain, Jimoh was motivated to leave her corporate career and work towards a solution. The result was Oja, which promised fast and
EXHALE, a well-being app for Black women and women of color, shared its findings from a report that almost 2 in 5 (36%) Black women have left their jobs because they felt unsafe. The State of Self-Care for Black Women report EXHALE recently published its “The State of Self-Care for Black Women” report based on its survey of 1,005 Black women in the U.S. The report states that while diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are expected in institutions today, fostering safe spaces for Black women requires more specific resources to focus on their
Zanifu, a Kenyan fintech company that helps millions of African businesses to access financial services, has raised $11.2 million in debt-equity funding in a pre-Series A round. Zanifu Founded by Steve Biko, the Zanifu platform allows small retailers and businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa to access inventory from their suppliers and pay later. They aim to support micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by bringing their businesses online while providing them with working capital finance. Biko told TechCrunch that the platform targets businesses that need help accessing credit from formal financial institutions for
An American Staffing Association (ASA) survey found that nearly 50% of Americans say automation could easily replace their jobs. Black and Hispanic Americans were especially likely to worry about automation replacing their jobs but remained optimistic about how AI tools would shape their future careers. AI tools and automation in the workplace Automation uses technology to perform tasks where human input is minimized; for example, operating systems perform predictable and repetitive tasks without direct human input. Developments in generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, have made it easier to automate workplace tasks. The ASA
Yohanes Kidane, 22, has been missing since August 14 after moving to San Jose, California, to start a role as a software engineer at Netflix. He was last seen entering a black Toyota Camry with an Uber sticker on 28 N 4th St. San Jose wearing grey sweatpants, a black hoodie and black shoes. The disappearance Kidane had moved from New York to the Bay Area on July 26 to start his new role at Netflix; his family told local news channel KTVU. He had recently graduated from Cornell University with a degree in
After experiencing a close call with a tornado in 2015, Robert Washington founded Shelter Share, a mobile app helping Oklahoma residents find nearby shelters during natural disasters. Shelter Share Oklahoma has had over 800 tornadoes, but Oklahoma City only has 26 shelters per 1500 residents, with no public shelters available. Shelter Share, founded in 2022 by Robert Washington, is a mobile app that helps users locate nearby shelters during natural disasters. Washington experienced a close call with a tornado in 2015. He was in a two-story apartment building, holding his newborn
Founders Factory Africa (FFA) has raised $114 million in funding to scale its model to better serve founders across the African tech ecosystem. Founders Factory Africa Founders Factory Africa, founded in 2018 by Roo Rogers, Alina Truhina and Sam Sturm, is an African early-stage investor supporting founders across the continent. With a portfolio of over 55 ventures across 11 countries in East, West, North and Southern Africa, they combine capital investment with support for entrepreneurs. They invest up to $250,000 in ventures at idea, pre-Seed and Seed stage for ventures
Google’s Product Inclusion and Equity Team, led by Dominique Mungin, is working to ensure that the next generation of AI-driven image generation and recognition technologies does not perpetuate societal biases. Mungin, who has been at Google for 13 years, has worked on projects like the Monk Skin Tone Scale and Google’s Real Tone Tech. Now, her team has collaborated with Tonl, a stock photography company, to supply more diverse imagery for training machine learning models. In an interview with Tech Brew, Mungin admitted that skin tone challenges persist. An entire
Preston Mutanga is the 14-year-old animator that created the Lego Spider-Man segment from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 14-year-old animator Minnesota native Mutanga created his first video at the age of nine after he was introduced to Blender, a computer graphics 3D software, by his father. Minnesota native Mutanga would make stop-motion Lego videos on his YouTube page for fun. However, they were that good they caught the attention of Sony Pictures Animation’s team. The 14-year-old in Milton was asked to animate a scene in the 2018’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse sequel,
Minnesota-based non-profit organization 30,000 Feet (30K) is providing young people of color with the opportunity to earn while they learn through its Tech Geeks program. 30,000 Feet Kevin Robinson and Vanessa Young founded 30K to empower African American students in Saint Paul, Minnesota, through technology, culture, art and social justice. Their project-based experiences are intended to reach students in ways traditional learning may not. They aim to inspire African American youth by giving them the confidence to believe in themselves and their endless potential. What do Tech Geeks Offer? 30K’s Tech Geeks program provides practical
