Curacel, the YC-backed startup developing insurance infrastructure for the African market, has launched a new interface that allows digital businesses like those in retail, fintech, e-commerce, and logistics to add insurance to their core products. Dubbed Curacel Grow – the new product is an embedded insurance product that empowers technology companies to seamlessly offer insurance as part of their existing products and services. The Nigerian insurtech startup is launching Grow to support insurance distribution to millions of Africans through partners like Barter by Flutterwave, Float, Payhippo, and other leading technology companies. Insurance
Antler East Africa, the Nairobi office of VC firm and venture builder Antler, has closed a $13.5 million fund to invest in early-stage tech startups in the region. Antler, which was first launched in 2019, actually intended to raise $10 million but ended up with an extra $3.5 million. It runs a full venture building model with two cohorts each year. Five cohorts with 153 founders have passed through the accelerator programs so far, and the firm has made 14 investments, according to reports and a few of them include
After less than two years as Netflix’s chief marketing officer, Bozoma Saint John is leaving the streaming giant. Variety was the first outlet to break the exclusive story and according to their report, Saint John’s departure from the company was “mutual and amicable.” The company, which also confirmed the moves on Thursday, did not elaborate on why Bozoma is departing. But in a statement, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he “loved working with Boz and have been inspired by her creativity and energy” and that she’s “attracted world-class marketers to the company
Carl is a seasoned product executive with 10 years of experience developing products for the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence industries and specializes in making products that solve urgent problems and are easy to use by anyone. Before founding Boundless Robotics, Carl worked at Rethink Robotics, Neurala, Johnson & Johnson and started another company that manufactured components for the Aerospace, Oil & Gas, and Medical Device Industries. The Boston-based founder started Boundless Robotics with the vision to “create an ecosystem that cultivates health and happiness.” Boundless is using technologies such as
Binga founded the Binga State bank in 1908 in Chicago and it was one of two pre-eminent Black-owned financial institutions in the US until its collapse during the Great Depression. Born in Detroit in 1865, Binga established himself in Chicago first as a real estate broker during the Great Migration. He was able to buy homes at a cheap price from white locals fleeing their neighborhoods in the wake of Black Americans moving in from the South. After buying the homes – he was able to fix them up himself and
Serena Williams’s early-stage venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, has raised an inaugural fund of $111 million that will invest in founders with diverse points of view. The achievement comes nine years after she first started the project and has taken on a portfolio of more than 60 angel investments. The investments were all backed by the athlete’s own money. For those who aren’t aware – an angel investor is an individual who uses their own funds to support a start-up company or project. “As an angel investor, you can only
Morgan Stanley’s recent panel discussion to mark Black History Month—featuring three alumni from our in-house accelerator for women and multicultural entrepreneurs—explored issues of access to funding, the Black wealth gap, and other challenges unique to Black founders. The conversation, entitled “A Founder’s Journey: Lessons in Resilience, Vision and Innovation,” moderated by Executive Director LaToya Wilson – included Tiffanie K. Stanard, founder, and CEO of Stimulus, a relationship intelligence SaaS platform that uses data and analytics to simplify how companies make purchasing decisions. B.J. Wiley Williams, founder and CEO of SoHookd, a wellness
Code Black Tech is committed to helping the Black community become equipped, empowered, and connected in order to enter the tech sector and thrive. Hun They hope to ensure all participants of its program are equipped for their professional role, empowered to become thought leaders and become connected to us and other supportive communities. The Code Black Tech course is delivered through joint instruction from Code Black community members and Metropolitan Community College Department of Information Technology faculty members. Students enrolled in this course will build their confidence in a
African fintech Flutterwave has raised $250 million in a Series D round that tripled the company’s valuation to over $3 billion in justtwelve months.
NBA Star Jrue Holiday And Olympian Lauren Holiday To Provide $1M In Grants To Black-Owned Businesses
NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday and his wife, who is two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lauren Holiday, are on an admirable mission to help more Black-owned businesses and Black-led nonprofits. In this third round of grant funding, the athletic superstar couple will continue Jrue’s 2019-2020 season commitment where he pledged to donate a portion of his salary to the couple’s organization. Grants will be provided to organizations and small businesses that are located in the Greater Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles areas with priority given to those with a focus on social impact
