James DuBose, former General Manager of Fox Soul, is launching In The Black Network, an Advertising-Based Video on Demand (AVOD) platform dedicated to celebrating and amplifying Black culture. The platform will launch on October 2 of this year. “I love everything about our culture: our faith, our resilience, our rhythm, our minds, our love. These pillars are the focus of our curated content which honors and elevates black culture and cultivates pride within our community,” James DuBose told Deadline. In The Black Network The platform will be a streaming service highlighting Black voices
Founder and CEO of market investment firm Vista Equity Partners Robert Smith has announced plans to sell Apptio – a company that helps connect technology investments to business outcomes – to IBM for $4.6 billion. Having bought the software maker for $1.9 billion in 2019, the firm has now doubled its initial investment with a return of 142% on the initial payment to acquire the company. In a separate statement, IBM revealed that it would use cash on hand to fund the deal, which should be complete in the second half of 2023.
The Black community makes up over a fifth of New York City’s bustling population but accounts for just 2% of its small business owners. This Juneteenth, the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) unveiled its enhanced directory of Black-owned businesses, Shop Black NYC. Shop Black NYC: An Online Business Directory Spearheaded by SBS’s Black Entrepreneurs NYC (BE NYC), the directory has grown to showcase over 3,300 Black-owned businesses since its launch in 2022. The online directory allows users to search for businesses based on product or service,
Fearless Fund has announced it has received multi-million dollar follow-on investments from Bank of America, Costco, and Mastercard. Investing In WOC Founded in 2019 by Arian Simone, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Ayana Parsons, Fearless Fund invests in pre-seed, seed level, and series A women of color founders building scalable and growth-aggressive companies. Their portfolio includes Bitsy’s, the clean food and beverage brand co-founded by Gabrielle Union, Melissa Butler’s cruelty-free beauty brand The Lip Bar, Pinky Cole’s Slutty Vegan, and Sevetri Wilson’s Resilia. Read: Resilia Closes $35M Series B, Largest Raise Ever For A
Black Women Empowered, a global platform aimed to inspire women of color, has launched the Black Women Empowered Business Network. The platform will unite leading business and inspiring leaders to share their roadmap to success. Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, according to a Harvard Business Review report that found that 17% of Black women are in the process of starting or are running new businesses, compared to 10% of white women and 15% of white men. Additionally, while Black women represent 14% of the female population,
Non-profit organization Silicon Harlem has teamed up with AT&T and the New York Urban League (NYUL) to offer opportunities for teens and students to explore tech careers. Silicon Harlem’s new learning lab, which opened Tuesday, invites students to try a new tech-related skill, from augmented reality to creating code. The lab received a major donation from AT&T, allowing them to have the latest technology for the teens in aims to bridge the digital divide and increase diversity. “We want to make sure when it’s time for you all to apply
Squire, the Black-owned all-in-one barbershop management platform, has surpassed $1 billion in payments processed, according to co-founder Songe LaRon. “It took two years to reach our first $1 million, 5.5 years to $100 million, and now we surpassed $1 billion,” said LaRon. “Every dollar reflects the hard work of our team and the dedication of the barbers we serve, and I’m deeply grateful to every shop owner, barber, and team member who’s been part of this journey.” What is Squire? Founded in 2015 by Songe LaRon and Dave Salvant, the
A new report by Dropbox DocSend has shed light on the funding divide in the tech industry, particularly regarding race and gender disparities among founders. While 2021 witnessed record-breaking levels of VC funding and increased engagement with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, 2022 proved to be more challenging for historically underfunded founders. Turning tides In 2021, VC funding for early-stage founders experienced a significant boost, with record-breaking funding levels. Historically underrepresented founders also experienced a surge of investor interest driven by DEI-related investment initiatives in response to the murder
Co-founder and CEO at Heex Technologies, Bruno Mendes Da Silva, has announced that his startup has signed a public contract with US Authorities. We previously wrote about Heex’s smart data management platform helping carmakers sift through the sea of data required to put autonomous vehicles on the road. Now, this new partnership will see the team provide their software solution to process data from Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility operators as part of the Automated Driving System program in California. The data will foster safety standards and rulemaking of autonomous vehicles
Horizon Media – reportedly the largest US media agency – has joined Burst Premium Network to create the first-ever network featuring a DEI content experience that amplifies the work and voices of local storytellers across more than 150 broadcast stations. Burst is a leading mobile video technology company aiming to transform how broadcasters, publishers, and media companies manage and monetize user-generated and controlled video content. The aim is focused on community-based DEI storytelling to amplify the work and voices of local storytellers across more than 150 broadcast stations. “We are
