The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, has just announced plans to invest $10 million in venture capital funds that reiterate the company’s stance on diversity, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Startup Showdown is a unique opportunity for early-stage startups to present to well-known investors and innovators in the tech ecosystem as they look to take their company to the next level. All finalists will get the chance to pitch to VC investors but only one startup founder will walk away with $120,000 to expand their business. Hosted monthly by Panoramic Ventures, there are six open application periods and 12 events each year. September’s ‘showdown’ will be hosted live in Miami on Thursday and broadcast globally as a fully hybrid event. “Startup
Autumn Adeigbo has gone from a one-woman show to a team of four, increased revenue by 400 percent, and attracted attention from A-list stars including Mindy Kaling, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kerry Washington. A year and a half ago, she raised $1.3 million in investments and set up shop in Los Angeles. Now Adeigbo, who is known for her bright designs and women’s ready-to-wear, just secured funds of nearly $3 million, led by venture capital firm Offline Ventures. This brings her total investments to more than $4 million. Brit Morin, the general
Rheaply, a startup that specializes in recycling and sourcing unused items, has just announced that it received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance Game Changer Fund. The firm also combines a resource-sharing network with a user-friendly resource management platform. The investment is meant to help the Black-owned venture build an online exchange for building products and other resources. The exchange, which is set to launch in late 2022, will enable businesses in the greater Bay Area to access surplus and salvaged resources at cost-effective rates.
Citi has announced its next round of investments through the Citi Impact Fund, a $200 million fund launched last year to invest in companies that are addressing some of the biggest societal challenges. Daylight, Flume, and Stackshare are among the list of companies included in the round. This brings the Impact Fund’s total number of investments to 23 companies – more than half of which are founded by women and/or minorities. Ed Skyler, Head of Global Public Affairs at Citi, said: “The portfolio of the Citi Impact Fund keeps growing as we continue to
Nigeria and San Francisco-based start-up, Klasha, has just announced its partnership with OpenCart, an all-in-one e-commerce builder that provides businesses with the tools to create and launch an online store. Klasha, first launched in 2018 by Jess Anuna and Kemi Oritsejafor, specializes in helping merchants worldwide sell online to Africa and receive payments in local currency. The new partnership means that OpenCart merchants can now sell more and accept payments online from customers across the continent while enjoying “superfast last-mile delivery to customers across the continent within 10 days.” Merchants who
Infibranches Technologies Limited has secured $2million in funding from ‘All On,’ an investment company backed by oil and gas giant Shell. The Nigerian firm, founded in 2019 by Olusola Owoyemi, aims to provide digital financial services for service providers in the energy sector. Through its flagship products – OmniBranches and Green Energy Plug – Infibranches helps companies with extensive distribution networks. With the support of The Nigerian Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme, it has also developed a payment system that helps to facilitate payment collection for providers of solar home systems and mini-grid developers through
Yonas Beshawred, the CEO of StackShare and countless other ventures, is a man not afraid to tell it as it is and this skill has worked in his favor. His venture, StackShare, a platform that allows software developers and tech companies to share their tools and how they use them, has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2014. What first started as a side project on a WordPress blog, StackShare has raised $7 million and reached 1M developers, engineers, CTOs, VPEs, architects, and founders. Although the journey
Black Engineers Feel More Confident Entering Tech Industry With Technical Interview Practice – Study
According to a new report published by Karat, a technical interviewing company, and Howard University, Black engineers feel more confident entering the tech industry if given several interview practices. Black engineers comprised just 6 percent of all computer programmers in the U.S. in 2020. This research aims to shine a light on the challenges and opportunities that exist to improve representation. The two firms teamed up and hosted focus groups to survey 300 Black computer science students and alumni from Howard University, Morehouse College, and North Carolina Charlotte. They asked
The not-for-profit organization is raising funds to publish a book highlighting the achievements of 51 Black women in tech to give young people in schools access to role models from diverse communities. Once the book, dubbed The voices in the shadow, is published, TLA Black Women in Tech aims to distribute 300 copies to schools in the UK and Ireland for free. The mission has also been backed by the Digital and Culture Minister, Caroline Dinenage, who said it was important for children to know they can do anything in life. There
