Does Y Combinator invest in Black-owned companies? A question asked back in 2011 by online user prime0196. A time when diversity in tech was awful. It was also the year CNN published a long piece on how Silicon Valley was fighting to keep its diversity data secret. CNNMoney had filed a Freedom of Information request in August seeking EEO-1 data from 20 companies: The tech industry’s 10 biggest firms by annual sales and 10 smaller but influential firms, including Facebook and Twitter. The EEOC denied the request in full, saying
On July 12, New York City Hall launched the first-ever Digital Games Industry Council to discuss supporting talent in that space. Participants included Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and several members of the mayor’s office. The council came together to discuss how to expand the city’s digital games industry. The digital committee, designed to build a robust talent pipeline for talent in the digital games industry, aims to attract game development studios across five boroughs and help businesses operate and thrive in New York City. The meeting occurred following the announcement
Universal Pictures’ “NOPE,” directed and written by Jordan Peele, is one of this year’s most anticipated movies, and it has expanded into virtual reality. The multi-verse VR experience, which has premiered ahead of the film’s release this July, allows viewers to take an adventure in a virtual reality video game based on the horror film. Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, the movie follows the story of two siblings residing in an isolated town that just witnessed a mysterious and abnormal event. In the most recent trailer, they discover that
Connection. That’s all we need to thrive as a community, and Plain Sight’s recent partnership with the City of Miami is a prime example of that. Black-owned networking startup Plain Sight recently announced the launch of their inaugural Black Founders Demo Day. The networking event will take place on December 1 as a featured event at this year’s Art Basel. The annual event will allow attendees to connect with prominent angel investors and venture capital groups worldwide to showcase, inspire, and invest in Black and Brown wealth. This year’s event
Black Ambition, owned by world-renowned singer and producer Pharrell Williams, recently announced its $3 million investment in content curator platform Trend. The pre-seed funding round was led by venture capital firm Flybridge and included a range of investors, including Techstars Ventures, live-streaming service Twitch, famous anime brand Crunchyroll, and reviewer platform Rotten Tomatoes. The investment firm, Black Ambition, which was founded by Pharrell in 2020, is dedicated to supporting Black and Latinx business owners. The non-profit organization aims to bridge the gap to success for entrepreneurs of color working in
How do you allow — and make it easier for — anyone to start a company? That’s the question driving Pulley, the cap table and equity management platform that has just raised $40 million in Series B investment funding. The new investment brings Pulley’s total funding to $50 million to date. The funding round was led by Keith Rabois at Founders Fund, including investors Stripe and Elad Gil. The latest investment fund comes a year after the company’s rapid growth, supporting over 1,600 companies across 80 countries. The serial investor
Black-owned investment accelerator, 1863, has unveiled its investment strategy for “New Majority” entrepreneurs, a term that they use to describe Black and Brown business owners who have been historically marginalized. The investment funding will go towards helping early-stage entrepreneurs develop their businesses to achieve generational wealth and hit their target goals. 1863, founded by Melissa Bradley in 2020, is a business development program designed to bridge the gap between entrepreneurship and equity. The platform works with marginalized entrepreneurs to help accelerate them from high potential to high growth. The firm
Carbon transformation company Twelve has raised $130 million in Series B funding to further support the engineering and manufacturing industries. The funding round was led by DCVC and included Series A investors Capricorn Technology Impact Fund and Carbon Direct Capital Management. Breakout Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, Elementum Ventures, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and other investors participated in the funding round. The new funding will deploy the world’s first carbon transformation product. The product, designed to create a wide range of products with a lower carbon footprint, will use transformative technology
Amazon’s Alexa Startups has announced the first cohort for this year’s Black Founders Build with Alexa program. Seven North American startups founded by Black entrepreneurs were selected based on their ability to innovate with Alexa and build the next generation of voice, artificial intelligence (AI), and ambient experiences. The application opened in April and will see up to 10 Black-founded startups partake in panel discussions, demo showcases, and mentorship programs. In addition, the initiative, which will span four months, will give all business owners the chance to develop their Alexa skills. The
On July 11, New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, announced that the city will be boosting its STEM programs with the help of a $1.5 million grant from Pfizer, a biopharmaceutical company known for developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer’s donation to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will specifically support students in two STEM-related initiatives, Exploring Futures and College Now for Careers. The programs help support the city’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational programs. The extra funding will also go towards building a career pathway for students to help them break into the industry. “Thanks
