EvenScore, co-founded by Johnnie Turnage and Averett Barksdale, is on a mission to revolutionize voters’ experience by making a system that creates an “even score” when it comes to fundraising for political or non-profit candidates. What is EvenScore? EvenScore’s app aims to “bring more transparency to donations.” Voters can rank campaigns and keep across the different movements they have contributed to. EvenScore also makes it easier for political candidates to share their campaigns online. Voters on the app will also be able to see donor profiles, a photo of the candidate, and more
According to reports, small and large businesses across the U.S. will be recruiting more employees with criminal records. The recent move comes after a labor shortage has made it extremely difficult for pharmacies, banks, and large corporations to hire staff. As a result, businesses are looking beyond usual traditional hiring routes to give people from all backgrounds the opportunity to work. As Black people are disproportionally impacted every day by an unfair criminal judicial system, the move corporations will not only open the door for more diverse hires but also remove anti-discriminatory workplace
Lenovo has partnered with multi-award-winning actor, producer, recording artist, label president, and entrepreneur Queen Latifah to support small businesses. Launched last year, the tech giant’s Evolve Small program provides North American small businesses with financial aid, tech resources, community support, and business mentorship. “I understand the hardships small businesses face and how much more challenging those hardships can be for businesses owned by women and minorities,” Queen Latifah explained. “Knowing how the support I received back when I got started helped me get to where I am today – I’m excited to
Workbnb is on a mission to become the one-stop solution for workforce rentals, providing comfortable housing for traveling workers. Founded by Yeves Perez and headed up by Daj’Anique Staples, the startup is part of Techstars, one of the largest pre-seed investment programs in the world. A gap in the market At the height of the pandemic in 2021, while working for his mother’s company, Perez noticed a gap in a multi-billion dollar industry. Businesses often need to provide their employees with temporary accommodation for extended periods. However, Perez realized that the travel rental industry largely neglected
Venture capital (VC) investment in African startups has seen a 33% increase compared to this time last year, according to gathered by The Big Deal. This follows similar reports of funding for African startups hitting new records in the first half of 2022. So far this year, more than 800 investors have contributed to at least one $100K+ startup deals on the continent. Investors have also been far more active than in previous years. For example, 250 firms made at least two investments (45% more than in 2021), and 60 partook
How often do the words Disney World and Black tech appear in the same sentence? In celebration of its fourth annual conference, Blacks In Technology, LLC and the Blacks In Technology Foundation are inviting the Black tech community to Disney World. BITCon2022 (not to be confused with bitcoin) will see Black tech enthusiasts channel their inner kid while taking home useful gems and new connections. A Tech Conference for the Culture Industry giants like Google, Disney, and Spotify are sponsoring the three-day conference which will take place from October 26-28th. The convention
Serena Williams is making big moves in the venture capital world. After announcing earlier this year, that she would be stepping away from tennis, Williams has embodied the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is, by investing over $100 million in early-stage startups. Ugandan-based fintech, Numida, is the latest business to benefit from investment from Serena Ventures. The fintech recently raised $12.3M in a pre-series A funding round led by Serena Ventures. Participation included the Pan-African VC fund, Launch Africa, Breega, Soma Capital, Y Combinator, and MFS Africa. What is
Vice President Harris has announced several new initiatives to expand opportunities for underserved and disadvantaged entrepreneurs, including people of color. The announcement came as Harris joined Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the 2022 Freedman’s Bank Forum. What was announced? VP Harris’ latest efforts include: Government contractsA memorandum to government agencies setting individualized goals for an unprecedented 12% of 2023 federal procurement dollars to be directed towards Small, Disadvantaged Businesses. New lendersA proposed expansion of the Small Business Administration lender base by lifting the moratorium on new Small Business Lending Companies (SBLCs),
Kansas City recently mourned the death of Edward Chow, who died at the age of 83 due to lung cancer. For many, the Black army veteran turned tech entrepreneur is a pioneer; one of a few Black men working in the computer tech industry at his time. Who Is Edward Chow? Edward grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, during the 1930s. Born to a Black mother and Chinese father, Edward and his siblings were no strangers to racial discrimination After serving in the military as a machine account supervisor, where he
South Africa will become the latest country to join Google Cloud as the tech giant’s first cloud region on the continent. On October 5th, 2022, Google announced plans to follow in the footsteps of competitors by launching its premier African cloud region. Cloud regions in Africa This comes years after major cloud providers Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services established their South African cloud regions in 2019 and 2020, respectively. In addition, earlier this year, Oracle, another competing cloud service, set up its data center in Johannesburg, making Google the
