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
Nigerian startup Stears has announced a $3.3 million seed round led by MaC Venture Capital which included Serena Ventures. What started as a written media publication by a group of Nigerian graduates is now a growing data insights company with its sights set on rivalling the likes of Bloomberg. Backed by Serena Ventures Serena Williams was playing in the US Open when the seed round for Stears came together. Nevertheless, according to Serena Ventures’ founding general partner, they were keen to invest and fought “tooth and nail” to get in.
It’s a universally acknowledged truth that social media can do more harm than good. Even though we know to watch out for disinformation or the insidious effects of constant comparison with other people’s best moments, most of us can’t quit scrolling. Even Facebook’s own studies showed a link between Instagram and teenagers suffering from mental health issues. Because of this, a new social media app called Inpathy wants to create a healthier experience online. Their answer? Asking users to post their real emotions in real-time. The unwritten rules of social
This article by Kelly Boutsalis was originally posted on Linktree. As Indigenous people continue to face marginalization across the world, we spoke to three powerful women working in tech who are paving the way for future generations. Celebrated every year on August 9, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People recognizes the need to voice Indigenous people’s inclusion and involvement in modern society, so that they can receive the same social and economic benefits provided to all. Despite the reconciliation efforts that have been made over the years, social inequity
The Congressional Black Caucus Institute (CBCI) is launching a new AI tech platform that matches public policy corporations with CBCI-vetted job seekers. Founded in 2000, the CBCI is a nonprofit social welfare organization that aims to educate and empower the African American community around issues that impact it the most. The CBCI’s latest initiative, the Career Placement Initiative (CPI), aims to diversify hiring in the public policy space. The Career Placement Initiative So how does it work? Employers bulk upload communications, legal, public policy, and government relations job openings to the platform. The
