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
Amazon has announced the launch of Amazon Catalytic Capital, a $150 million commitment focused on investing in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, women, and LGBTQIA+ builders in tech. Amazon Catalytic Capital The initiative will provide capital to funds, venture studios, accelerators, or incubators committed to backing startups led by underrepresented founders. Recipients will also receive 1:1 mentorship from Amazon executives and unique business opportunities for partnerships, technical support, and scaling resources. Amazon Catalytic Capital aims to support at least 10 funds and 200 companies through the next year. So far, recipients include Collide
The Lip Bar Inc., the holding company for the beauty brands The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, has closed a new funding round. The $6.7 million round, led by Pendulum, will focus on expanding The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty’s distribution as well as incubating a third beauty brand. Endeavor and The Fearless Fund also contributed to the fund. Melissa Butler, the business’ founder and Chief Executive Officer, said the round came after years of consistent growth unencumbered by the pandemic. “Our lip sales were crazy during the pandemic—we sold
National non-profit organization Black Economic Alliance Foundation has partnered with Deloitte to promote financial inclusion. What is financial inclusion? Financial inclusion allows people of color access to financial services and systems that will better enhance their economic status. Financial inclusion is the bridge between economic opportunities and the racial wealth gap. The more access underrepresented families have to financial services, the easier it will be to help close the racial wealth gap. Deloitte’s partnership with the Black Economic Alliance Foundation Deloitte has committed $10 million over the next five years
When TikTok soared in popularity in 2020, the hard seltzer drinks market saw sales double to $4.1 billion. While the stars were aligning, Nectar Hard Seltzer was a new company attempting to take on established brands such as White Claw and Truly. A unique marketing strategy involving our favorite new social media app and SMS texting would be the secret to their success. When Jeremy Kim received a phone call from his future co-founder, John Dalsey, he couldn’t have predicted the journey they would go on. Asian-Inspired Hard Seltzer “Hard seltzer is killing
When Kwasi Kwarteng delivered the new UK government’s first major fiscal policy package in last week’s “mini-budget”, all eyes were on him in regards to how he would help Britain excel it’s tech scene. His predecessor, Rishi Sunak’s brand centered around being “a startup Treasury” — an agenda cut short when he resigned earlier this year. But it seems Kwarteng has made some key policy changes that some startups say will help fuel their growth. We’ve listed some of them blow: Plan: SEIS is broadened Kwarteng plans to widen access
Earlier this week, Calendly announced the acquisition of recruiting operating platform, Prelude to help further accelerate the platform’s vision of solving external scheduling challenges for individuals and members of the company. Prelude, co-founded by Will Laufer and Alexander Soto, is a recruiting operation platform focused on improving the recruitment process to help improve the candidate’s experience. Over the years, Prelude has transformed how companies approach hiring, from communications and prep to scheduling and logistics. In addition, by increasing transparency, Prelude’s enterprise has made the hiring process a lot more seamless for customers. Prelude and Calendly joining forces
As Africa’s tech ecosystem grows, the demand for talent is soaring. For young Africans, digital skills have become ever-more important and attractive. In 2021, according to the Africa Developer Ecosystem Report (pdf), Africa’s developer community grew by 3.8%, bringing the total number of developers on the continent to 716,000. The average local developer in Africa is seven years younger than their global counterpart and has up to three years of experience. The pandemic drove increased adoption of remote work around the world, leading to international companies recruiting African developers at
Omidyar Network has announced the launch of The Tech We Want program which aims to help build community, infrastructure, and a solid support system for technologists, thought leaders, and investors in the tech space. The four-year, $8 million program primarily focuses on connecting and empowering new leaders and technologies that focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and responsible innovation. “If we want to develop a responsible tech future, we have to intentionally change who and what we produce. We need to support diverse organizations and inclusive communities working to redefine what technology
As the world has become more digitized, more accessible payment systems such as Cash App, PayPal and Venmo have become hugely popular. According to data, Cash App has generated over 40 million monthly active users and over 100 million downloads. Recent research reveals that 59% of Black Americans report using Cash App, compared to 37% of Hispanic Americans and even a smaller percentage of white and Asian Americans. Hackers and scammers The popularity of these payment systems among Black and Hispanic Americans is in spite of concerns about security and
