A Black-owned music NFT platform, powered by Trapchain, Inc, has collaborated with indie music artist and native Chicagoan Willie Taylor, to drop his first NFT for his music project, “Write My Wrongs.” Taylor first gained notoriety as a contestant from MTV’s “Making the Band 4”, where Sean Combs chose him (P-Diddy) to be a member and one of the main vocalists for the band Day26 on August 26. 360NFT’s launch and debut NFT release commemorate the band’s popularity and success. Its streamlined ecosystem reportedly makes it easy for users to thrive on the blockchain without
The Framework has raised $2 million in a seed round to create an “on-demand business school” aimed at startups. The edtech platform says it already has more than 2,500 people on its waitlist ahead of its launch next year. The firm’s idea is that members learn directly from tech operators from companies including Slack, ASOS, Flo Health, and Netflix via 15-minute “Frameworks” and live office hours sessions. Members can also make 1:1 connections with each other. This is sometimes called “snackable” content. LearnStart, the seed fund of Learn Capital, Evio
Tiktok has teamed up with MACRO again for a first-of-its-kind grant designed specifically with Black creatives in mind. As an extension of the TikTok for Black Creatives creator incubator program, the social media giant is providing creators and artists with career-building resources that will help them thrive on TikTok and in real life. “Our aim is to ensure Black creatives and artists have the resources they need to reach new heights in their careers and spearhead innovation in their respective industries,” said Kudzi Chikumbu, Director of Creator Community at TikTok, in an official statement.
Memphis-born Abiodun Johnson, along with co-founders Boris Moyston and Evan Leaphart created the first “Unicorn Ambition Conference” for Black Men Talk Tech in 2019, and since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength awarding over $80,000 in funding to Black tech founders, BMTT is a collective and concert series that supports emerging and elite Black tech entrepreneurs. Unicorn Ambition Conference is a national tech conference providing exposure and resources to Black tech founders who are building innovative companies and focused on massive growth or becoming the next “unicorn.” What is BMTT all
DrugStoc has raised $4.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Africa Healthcare Master Fund, Vested World, the German Development Bank and others. The investors will play a vital role in the sector’s continued growth. The firm plans to open more fulfillment centers and increase transit points and routes. It also hopes to provide more improved logistic alternatives for deliveries projected to be tardy. The founders plan to tap into more investment prospects in cold chain infrastructure with the hope of creating safer distribution for perishable items. To
The platform, launched in 2020, is designed to make Black candidates accessible to corporations, connect Black-owned start-ups with major brands, pair young tech employees with experienced workers for mentorship, and teach small-business owners how to raise capital. Launched by Leke Sholuade in September last year – it now has a global community of 208 plus mentors from multinational companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, Facebook, Cisco, LEGO ventures, and SMEs. It reportedly has a three-phased approach to make sure the future of tech is an inclusive one for Black people.
Latinas in Tech have released the Latina Founders list, a compilation of founders from the community who have raised $1M or more and start-up owners that are on track to raise a similar amount. Latinos have always represented just a tiny share of Venture Capital investment, and firms have long thought that Latinas aren’t represented at all, so Cecilia Corral and Latinas in Tech set out to prove this wrong. According to Crunchbase, Black and Latinx founders have raised $2.3 billion, representing 2.6% of overall funding. However, Latina-founded ventures are not even listed in the findings. At the
So – apart from our pretty awesome podcast – Techish – that gives you the rundown on all things tech, business and money with a hint of culture news – there are plenty of other podcasts for Black tech entrepreneurs. People of color lack representation in tech yet these podcasts may help unlock some doors. Here’s a breakdown of the podcasts you should probably check out whether you’re interested in learning more about what makes a good pitch deck, if bootstrapping is the way for you or you just want
Black entrepreneurs know the climb to getting substantial funding from investors can be practically a vertical ascent. Venture-backed founders tend to all look the same with 73 percent of all founding teams composed exclusively of men while 60 percent of founding teams are exclusively White. But here at POCIT news, we believe our community of great founders, engineers, and designers can do it all and our job is to provide you with insight, tips, and timely news. We’ve compiled a list of all the places you can get funding as
At POCIT News, we’re always trying to make life simpler for our community, and that’s why we’ve created a list of Black Programmers and technologists who are inspiring the next generation of innovators. Let’s begin. Sofia Ongele She’s a 20-year-old coder, student, and activist. Back in 2016, she attended Kode with klossy, a summer program and organization dedicated to teaching girls aged 13-18 how to code. In turn, she learned the ins and outs of web development, and learning to code has since opened countless doors for her, taking her to
